Iran Seizes Tehran's Oldest Protestant Church
Iranian authorities began confiscating St. Peter's Evangelical Church in Tehran in June 2026, transferring the 10-acre compound to a state entity. About 20 Armenian and Assyrian Christian families living on the grounds were ordered to vacate within weeks. The World Council of Churches has condemned the seizure.
Iran's government moved to seize St. Peter's Evangelical Church in Tehran in June 2026, handing the historic 10-acre compound to the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO), a state body that manages confiscated property.
The church is Tehran's oldest Protestant congregation. The compound includes the main sanctuary, schools, and residences where approximately 20 Armenian and Assyrian Christian families lived. Those families were ordered to leave within weeks of the seizure order.
Intelligence agents entered the compound to warn residents to get used to the presence of authorities. Church leaders were told they could face arrest if residents refused to comply with eviction orders.
The legal basis cited for the seizure is a Revolutionary Court ruling from the late 1990s. Church representatives say they were never properly notified of that ruling and only learned of it in 2008. They were denied any opportunity to contest it.
The confiscation fits a broader pattern. Iranian authorities have shut down Protestant properties in Tabriz, Mashhad, and Gorgan. Persian-language worship has been effectively eliminated from public, government-recognized churches, pushing many Christians into clandestine house churches.
The World Council of Churches condemned the seizure and called on Iran to halt the confiscation and protect the religious freedom of its Christian minority.
