Iran Seizes Tehran's Oldest Protestant Church, Evicting Christian Families
Iranian security forces have moved to confiscate St. Peter's Evangelical Church in Tehran, a 150-year-old compound housing Assyrian and Armenian Christian families. About 20 to 28 families were ordered to vacate within weeks, with some already fleeing after threats of arrest.
Iranian authorities are seizing St. Peter's Evangelical Church in Tehran, the country's oldest Protestant church, and evicting the Christian families who live on its grounds.
Security forces sealed the church office and the office of the synod's secretary in July 2026, banning all church gatherings. About 20 to 28 Assyrian and Armenian Christian families living in residential units on the 10-acre compound were ordered to leave within weeks. Some have already fled after receiving threats of arrest.
The property is being transferred to the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO), a state-controlled entity, based on a Revolutionary Court ruling from the late 1990s. Church leaders say they were never properly notified of that ruling and were denied the chance to contest it.
St. Peter's was established in 1876 by American missionaries. The deeds were later transferred to the Synod of the Evangelical Church of Iran, but the regime now claims the property is "foreign-owned."
The seizure is part of a broader campaign against Protestant Christianity in Iran. Other Protestant sites, including an Assemblies of God church in Gorgan and Presbyterian churches in Tabriz and Mashhad, have also been closed or destroyed in recent years. Farsi-language church services remain prohibited, pushing many converts into underground house churches that face regular raids and arrests.
The World Council of Churches condemned the action and urged the Iranian government to stop intimidating Christian communities. Despite the pressure, observers note that underground churches in Iran continue to grow even as public Christian institutions are dismantled.
