GENEVA, 15 July 2026 – UN experts* today condemned the confiscation of the compound of St Peter’s Evangelical Church in Tehran and the eviction of the 27 members of the country’s recognised Armenian and Assyrian Christian minorities who lived within it.
“Twenty families, most of whom are low income, long-standing residents of the compound, were reportedly given just two weeks to leave their homes. The church’s leaders were threatened with arrest if they failed to comply. The final resident left on 12 July, prompting fears that the complex may be demolished,” the experts said.
“Forced evictions are incompatible with international human rights law and risk leaving members of recognised religious and ethnic minorities homeless.”
For its residents, the ten-acre compound in central Tehran was far more than property. It was their home, their school and their place of worship. It included the church building, two schools, residents’ homes and offices, including those of the Bible Society and of the Council of Evangelical Churches of Iran, which owns the land. In 1998, a Revolutionary Court ordered the compound’s transfer to the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order, a state body operating under the Office of the Supreme Leader. This ruling has been used to block the Council’s re-registration, though the Council only learned of it in 2008.
“This is not an isolated incident, but the culmination of a long pattern of measures directed against Iran’s Christian community, and in particular against Persian-speaking Christian worship,” the experts said. They also cited the closure of Tabriz’s Assyrian Presbyterian church in 2019, as well as the demolition of a Presbyterian church in Mashhad in June 2026, which had been forced to close decades earlier.
Once, there were around 50 Protestant churches in Iran, most of which offered services in Persian. Today, there are effectively none, as they have either been closed down or have had to stop offering services in Persian. The last three Anglican churches that were permitted to preach in Persian in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz have not been allowed to reopen since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Freedom of religion or belief includes the freedom to worship in community with others, in one’s own language, and to maintain places of worship. When a church is confiscated, a community loses not only a building but a place of worship and community life,” the experts said.
Alongside the closure and confiscation of churches, Christians continue to face arrest, detention and ill-treatment. At least 79 Christians are detained or imprisoned, the vast majority of whom are converts. Some have allegedly been forced to confess under torture. Among them is Mohammad Nikbakht, a Christian convert reportedly arrested and beaten at his home in Golpaygan in March 2026 and held incommunicado in Dastgerd Prison, Isfahan. His family has not been given any information on his legal status or access to counsel.
The experts urged Iranian authorities to allow its residents and congregation to return, cease all threats and intimidation directed against the church community, and release those arbitrarily detained.
The experts are in contact with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to clarify these issues.
