As Salimeh, her husband, and their two children sat at the dinner table in their Iranian home, government agents burst through the door. The men shouted as they ransacked the apartment—pulling books off shelves and dumping drawers onto the floor.
The agents searched every room in their house and seized all their Bibles and Christian material. They smashed furniture and tore things off the walls. Meanwhile, they interrogated Salimeh and her husband. They demanded to know why they were in contact with Zionist Christian networks and insisted they give them the names of other Christians. For hours, they screamed into their faces and issued threats.
When the agents finally left, Salimeh held her son and daughter tightly. They were shaking with fear, and unable to speak for hours. No one could sleep that night. In the days that followed, her 10-year-old son became restless and anxious, while her daughter cried constantly and was too afraid to sleep at night. For days afterward, the smallest noises would make them jump in fear.
The harassment didn’t end there. The agents kept calling, threatening them and monitoring their phones so there was no way to safely stay in touch with other believers.
According to an ICR field worker, there are more than 1 million underground believers in Iran. “They’re highly persecuted, and they’re very much afraid, but that movement is very much growing and it’s growing fast.”
As the church has been growing over the last two decades, the Islamic government has been doing everything they can to stop Christianity in Iran. This includes arresting leaders, intimidating believers, and closing churches. Christians, especially new converts, are accused of “propaganda against the Islamic Republic,” “acting against national security,” and “colluding with Zionists.”
The government gives new converts three choices: 1) go to jail, 2) leave the country, 3) or return to “the merciful bosom of Allah,” that is, return to Islam and betray fellow Christians by revealing their names.
These decades of heavy persecution haven’t stopped church growth, but they have decimated church leadership. The church in Iran today is full of new believers who haven’t had long to be discipled. The government systematically arrests leaders or pushes them out of the country. That’s why efforts to disciple Iranians from outside the country, often through media, have become essential.
Despite the persecution Salimeh and her family experienced, they did not abandon their faith. They had already experienced opposition to their faith and they had already decided following Jesus was worth the cost. Her husband had been the first to leave Islam. Salimeh took longer to decide to follow Christ. Her family was strongly religious, and when they found out that she had converted, they cut off all contact with her.
During the months of government intimidation, Salimeh says the nights of fear pushed her deeper into God’s presence. Today, she and her family remain faithful, thanks to the Lord who gives true strength and peace during persecution.
The May 2025 conflict between Israel and Iran made things harder than ever for Iranian believers. An ICR field worker explained, “The Iranian underground church is fearing to be persecuted even more now as suspected Zionist collaborators.”
And these fears proved valid. Over the summer months, the Iranian government arrested more than 50 Christians in 21 cities. They were accused of espionage and collaboration with foreign intelligence. Ministry of Intelligence agents raided multiple house churches and the homes of converts to Christianity, confiscating Bibles and other Christian materials.
One government broadcast shared widely on TV and social media used footage of Iranian Christians gathering in other countries, images of confiscated Bibles, and supposed surveillance of Bible smuggling to portray Christians as anti-government cultists.
Following the conflict, Iran’s top judicial chief ordered prosecutors to fast-track trials and impose harsher penalties for religiously based charges like “waging war against God” and “corruption on earth.” After the airstrike on Evin prison, at least 11 Christian prisoners were transferred to other facilities, including the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary and Qarchak Prison. Conditions are described as abysmal by one female Christian prisoner, with a lack of adequate food, water, and hygienic facilities. Other Christian prisoners are unaccounted for, leading to fears of forced disappearances.
Another believer, Mehdi, came to faith several years ago, and has faithfully shared the gospel around him, despite the danger. Just a few months ago, one of his acquaintances betrayed him. Late one night, government agents raided his home. They seized all of his Christian books, including Bibles, and took him away for interrogation.
Under interrogation, the authorities pressed him for the names of other believers, but he gave them no names. After threats and intimidation, they eventually released him.
Even now, Mehdi cannot be safely in touch with other Christians. Authorities installed tracking software on his phone, and he is still under surveillance. His courage and silence under pressure show how God equips his people to stand firm.
The need for Bibles remains high. Iranians are educated people and when they begin questioning Islam, they often request Bibles to investigate Christianity. New converts need the Scripture to grow in their faith. And when authorities confiscate Bibles from established believers during raids, those Bibles need to be replaced.
The Iranian government is actively publishing false Bibles. These Bibles support the coming of the 12th Imam, a key Shiite principle. Iran is actively printing and distributing false Bibles in Iran to combat the spread of Christianity, and they are sentencing Christians to ten years in prison just for possessing a Bible.
“Yet, Christianity is organically growing,” an ICR field worker said. “When we talk about Jesus, there’s no need to talk about Islam. When you just talk about the light of Christ, people just gravitate to it because they live in darkness.
“That’s a powerful spiritual understanding of the atmosphere in Iran
… Despite the pressure, there is still huge perseverance.”
