A Los Angeles pastor is speaking out after federal agents detained members of his Iranian Christian congregation, including a young family and a woman who suffered a medical emergency during her arrest.

Pastor Ara Torosian of Cornerstone Church in West LA, himself an Iranian refugee who fled religious persecution, said five members of his church were taken into custody over the past week by federal agents. Among them were a husband, wife, and their 3-year-old daughter who had been seeking asylum in the United States.

The incident has left the congregation shaken. “In one moment, I felt that I was in the street of Tehran, under fear, under dictatorship,” Torosian told NBC Los Angeles. They came here for freedom, not like this.”

Cellphone video captured the arrest of another couple, including a woman identified only as Marjan, who reportedly suffered a panic attack while watching agents detain her husband outside their home. Torosian said she called him during the arrest, and when he arrived, he found her convulsing on the ground.

“She’s sick, she’s bad, call 911!” Torosian shouted in the video, pleading with the agents to allow her medical care. Emergency responders arrived and transported her to UCLA Medical Center, where federal agents stood guard outside her hospital room, denying Torosian and others the opportunity to pray with her.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrests, describing the couple as “two Iranian nationals unlawfully present in the U.S. — both flagged as subjects of national security interest.” DHS said agents immediately contacted EMS during the medical emergency and escorted the woman to the hospital, where she was later discharged before both individuals were taken into federal custody.

Torosian questioned the need for such force, saying the couple had Social Security numbers, work permits, no criminal records, and had been attending his church for over a year. “They are asylum seekers,” he said, noting they fled Iran because of their Christian faith and had no family in Los Angeles.

In the video, Torosian is heard confronting agents, asking, “You all guys came for one person? There’s an army here. Have you read the news about what’s happened in Iran for women? They came here for freedom, not like this.”

He also pleaded to accompany the detained couple, telling agents, “Can you take me with them? They need me.” An officer declined, telling him he could stay and record but could not join them. Torosian responded, “You’re so cruel. I know you’re just doing your job, but shame on you. Shame on this government.”

Torosian later canceled Sunday service, telling his congregation not to come due to safety concerns following the arrests. “I will miss them, and hopefully, I can hug them and love them and preach for them again.”

As he processes the trauma of witnessing his congregants taken away, Torosian says he is trying to forgive the agents involved, but he remains deeply disturbed by the government’s actions.

“They came here for freedom,” he said, “but what happened to them was not freedom.”