Under the royal Shah, Iran did not have democracy but enjoyed other western freedoms and good living standards in the cities. The liberal monarchy was overthrown by a Shi’ite Muslim Revolution in 1979 which imposed Islamic fundamentalism and continued the strict political controls through the secret police. Unlike the Shah, the Islamic government tightened social control, restricting woman and religious freedom.

The Iranian government now strictly prohibits evangelical Christian activities, closing down churches, banning Farsi editions of the Bible and arresting citizens caught worshipping in house-church fellowships.

There have been many human rights abuses. Iran’s Islamic regime has used trumped-up charges to jail, try and execute two other former Muslims for alleged “treason.” Since then, another four Protestant church leaders have been assassinated. Dozens more have fled the country to escape legal prosecution for apostasy or proselytizing.

Iranian government sponsors international terrorism and is pursuing nuclear weapon capacity.

A court in Iran has banned the country’s highest circulation youth magazine, ‘Iran Javan’, for being anti-Islamic. The magazine deals with teenage issues and reports on Western entertainment like films and music.

Dozens of evangelical Christians have been arrested this past year in ongoing police crackdowns in major cities and northern Iran. Although most of these Christians were released after several weeks of harsh mistreatment and interrogation, they remain under threat and police surveillance.

There is a small but growing number of Christians who are from a Muslim background . The punishment and persecution for Muslims turning to Christianity is so severe that their faith must be kept secret, so it’s difficult to know exactly how many Christians there are. Thank God for all these people who have chosen to follow Jesus whatever the cost.

Pray for political change in Iran – so that people can live in a fairer and more humane society.
Pray that the population will see through government propaganda and demand a return to social and religious freedom
Pray for all those Christians from a Muslim background. The struggles they face are huge – there are rejected and isolated from their families and forbidden from meeting with other Christians. Pray that the Holy Spirit would be at work in their hearts and lives and that they would not be discouraged in the face of opposition.
Parsees are people who follow an ancient Persian religion (the wise men who visited Jesus were Parsees!) There are communities of Parsees living across the Middle East and Asia and over 2 million live in Iran. None of them have been reached by the gospel – pray for opportunities for them to come to hear about Jesus and worship him – just like the wise men did!