Iran Seizes Historic Tehran Church Compound, Evicts 27 Families
Iranian authorities have moved to confiscate St. Peter's Evangelical Church in Tehran, the country's oldest Protestant church. State agents evicted roughly 27 resident families from the 10-acre compound by July 12, 2026. UN experts have condemned the action as part of a long pattern of persecution against Iran's Christian community.
Iranian state agents have seized the compound of St. Peter's Evangelical Church in Tehran, evicting approximately 27 families who lived on the grounds by July 12, 2026.
The Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO), a state body that manages confiscated property, enforced a 1998 Revolutionary Court ruling that transferred the 10-acre site to the government. Church leaders say they were never properly informed of that ruling and had no chance to contest it before enforcement began.
St. Peter's, also known as the Qavam Church, was founded in 1876 by American Presbyterian missionaries on land granted by the Qajar monarchy. For nearly 150 years it served Tehran's Armenian and Assyrian Christian communities. The compound also housed two schools and the offices of the Council of Evangelical Churches of Iran.
Intelligence agents were present during the evictions and warned church leaders they could face arrest if they did not comply. The church's congregation has been left without a place to worship.
UN human rights experts issued a statement calling the seizure the "culmination of a long pattern of measures" against Iran's Protestant Christians. They urged the Iranian government to reverse the confiscation and return the property.
The action follows the demolition of a Presbyterian church in Mashhad in June 2026 and closures of other Protestant sites in Tabriz and Gorgan. The Iranian government has effectively eliminated public Persian-language Protestant worship, pushing many Christians into underground house churches that are frequently raided.
As of mid-July 2026, at least 79 Christians, most of them converts, were reported detained or imprisoned in Iran. International religious freedom advocates say the pace of persecution has accelerated sharply this year.
