Iran: A wave of protests and uprisings
In 1979, crowds filled the streets of Tehran to welcome Ayatollah Khomeini home. Many believed they were stepping into a new future. Instead, the revolution gave birth to a religious dictatorship led by Islamic clerics. Nearly five decades later, the mood in the country feels very different.
In recent years, waves of protest have rolled through Iran. Students, women, workers, and young people have taken to the streets again and again. Demonstrations that began in 2009 resurfaced in 2019 and surged with new intensity in 2022 and 2023 after the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody. What those protests revealed was not just anger, but exhaustion from political tyranny. A generation has grown up under strict religious rule and is now openly questioning it.
Christianity quietly grows
The government’s religious authority no longer carries the weight it once did. Surveys conducted outside the country suggest that many Iranians no longer identify as practicing Muslims. Some now describe themselves as agnostic or atheist. Others have explored minority faiths. And quietly, steadily, a surprising number have turned to Jesus Christ.
Christianity is now widely considered one of the fastest-growing faith movements in Iran. This growth has not happened in public cathedrals or on city billboards. It has happened secretly in living rooms, in whispered conversations, and behind closed doors.
The authorities have noticed. Throughout 2025, reports surfaced of Christian converts and house church leaders being arrested. Some have disappeared into the prison system with little information available about their condition. Surveillance is common. Charges such as “acting against national security” are frequently used against believers. As the government braces itself against further unrest, pressure on Christians may intensify.
And yet, the Church continues to grow. Small fellowships gather quietly in homes. Scripture is shared in print, on phones, and through audio recordings. Stories circulate of Iranians encountering Jesus through dreams, through personal conversations, or through a Bible passed carefully from hand to hand. Faith spreads not through power, but through persistence.
Iran in 2026
Iran today is more than a political story. It is a spiritual one. Many Iranians have grown disillusioned with a system that has abused a strict adherence to the Shia faith and state power. As 2026 approaches, the tension in the nation remains high. The future is uncertain. But amid pressure and risk, believers continue to endure.
Please pray
Pray for courage: For those who follow Christ in secret.
Pray for protection: That the house churches of Iran would stand strong as a beacon of God’s word.
Pray for the believers: That they would encounter the peace and truth they are seeking.
