Cries for justice from Iran

It has been almost a month since unrest broke out in Iran with protests because of economic instability, which soon turned into demands for political change. Since then, the number of lives lost in the conflict continues to rise at a staggering rate. Please pray for the nation of Iran.

With connectivity slowly returning, the gap between Iran and the rest of the world is being bridged with flickers of insight into what has been the bloodiest suppression of unrest in the nation since 1979. However, with patches of restored connection has come horror rather than relief as the true picture of suffering and injustice is revealed. 

Maryam* is a believer serving the secret church in Iran. She shares, “Please pray for our people. What they have seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears has deeply affected them. One sister locked herself inside her home out of fear. She cannot sleep at night, is highly traumatised and cannot stop crying. ‘I wish we could pray over phone’ is what she quietly shared.” 

According to Iran International, over 36,500 people have been killed since the start of the protests. The HRANA has confirmed 6,373 deaths with a further 17,091 under review, and other sources estimate a minimum death toll of 25,000 ultimately. Countless bodies are believed to have been hidden and purposefully kept out of public record to obfuscate the scale of the killings. 

With greater exposure on the sheer number of lives lost and arrests carried out by security forces, the effects on life for those hiding from the unrest are myriad. People are dissuaded from using social media and interacting with content about the protests; phone calls are monitored; silence and fear dominate. 

“Please pray for our people” 

Amid the chaos stands the underground church. Most believers are unable to meet and online ministries are under intense monitoring. Christians are among those who become a governmental scapegoat, being painted as Western collaborators or ‘acting against national security’. This is evident in the new wave of arrests targeting house churches and Christians. 

Maryam asks: “Please pray for us who serve Christians inside Iran. Ask the Lord to give us discernment and wisdom to know how to pray, how to guide and how to comfort. We are affected too by what we hear and carry.” 

“Even their voices are different” 

Videos and photos have pushed through the blackout revealing families waiting in long lines for hours, even days, outside courthouses to find out whether their children are dead or alive. They move from hospital to hospital, prison to prison, and many are forced to look through hundreds of body bags to find a familiar face. It has been reported that when families have asked for the body of their loved one, authorities have demanded them to sign false statements declaring that the deceased was part of security forces and was killed by protesters. 

If relatives are arrested, a severe bail is demanded for their release – in some cases, the money is given but the detainee never freed. There are rumours of those imprisoned being executed in secret and later declared as having died in protests. 

Even the hospitals have become unsafe. One doctor has described patients being taken by security forces to be executed or denied medical care, left instead to die because of their injuries. Nurses, doctors and firefighters are also being arrested or executed for aiding injured protesters, such acts of compassion being perceived as anti-regime.

One among them was named Yohanna Mirpadyab, a Christian firefighter who was reportedly shot and killed by security forces as he was attempting to extinguish a fire during the protests. He is only one of a dozen Christians, and likely many more, who are being imprisoned, denied contact with their families or executed.

Another Christian is a convert called Ghazal Marzban, who was previously arrested and sent to Evin Prison after being convicted of ‘propaganda against the regime’. Since her conversion, she has faced endless harassment. On 14 January, she was once again arrested by intelligence agents, her Bible and Christian books confiscated. Two hours later, she was able to contact her husband to say that she was being held in a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre. She has not been heard from since.

In the brief moments of contact between families, news like this is hard to hear. Majid* shares his experience: “I managed to speak with my family after two weeks. Praise God they are alive, but they are not well. Even their voices are different. I heard that my brother was kept in prison for 10 days and beaten almost to death. They were afraid to share more details because of monitoring. There are rumours that the internet may be cut off again, cutting people off from the world completely.” 

“We want to bring truth and hope” 

Even beyond the borders, Iranian Christians living outside the country face the threat of being sent back. An Open Doors partner shares that a refugee Christian couple known for their online ministry were summoned for questioning by immigration authorities. They were then taken to a detention camp and told they were a ‘threat to national security’. Though the couple have hired lawyers, deportation back to Iran is being considered by the authorities. 

Should Christians like this couple be forced to return to Iran, the repercussions they would face would be immediate and severe. 

“Please keep them in your prayers,” the partner asks. “Pray for this couple and for all those in the detention camp who may be sent back, especially in the current situation.” 

As the darkness deepens over Iran, your prayers are urgently needed for our brothers and sisters and all those suffering because of grave injustice. Ziba*, another sister, pleads, “The church in Iran wants to be salt and light in this moment. We want to bring truth and hope to our nation. But after years of oppression done in the name of God, we fear how people will respond to the gospel. Please pray that God shows us how to love our community with the hope of Jesus.” 

Please continue to stand with the church in Iran, praying that they would trust in the Lord and the promise of His Word: “For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.” (Psalm 11:7) 

*Names changed for security reasons