Iran (MNN) — As Iran’s government tightens its blackout on digital communication amid growing unrest, one platform remains difficult to silence: satellite television.
SAT-7 broadcasts Christian programming across the Middle East and North Africa in Arabic, Turkish, and Farsi. Its Farsi-language channel, SAT-7 PARS, continues reaching viewers inside Iran — even when internet access and other communication channels are blocked by the government.
Iran protests in Eastern Europe. (Photo courtesy of MNN)
Joe Willey with SAT-7 says, “We know that satellite television is virtually uncensorable, and so we can broadcast even programs we have — and we’ve done this. Programs that are created to be online, we can actually broadcast those programs on satellite television. So we can still reach people with the Gospel and with the support that the people of Iran need.”
Willey recently spoke with an Iranian man who has been able to communicate with contacts inside the country. According to those reports, protests are not fading.
“Instead of these protests dwindling, the numbers are increasing,” Willey says.
“It’s a desperate situation, and of course, the information coming out of Iran is filtered through government channels, because the government has throttled digital communication. The internet — and anything that uses the internet — is really blacked out.”
While the sharp drop in the Iranian rial sparked the unrest on December 28, dissatisfaction with the Islamist authoritarian regime has been building for years amid strict Sharia law and ongoing human rights abuses.
Iran protests in Eastern Europe. (Photo courtesy of MNN)
“The shopkeepers started with economic protest because of a devalued currency and financial difficulty in the country,” Willey says. “That has spread to freedom and wanting a different lifestyle.”
That pressure is also driving deeper spiritual questions.
“Younger people and even older people have questioned the harshness and severity of life under this regime,” says Willey. “They will say, ‘Well, if this is religion, if this is God, I don’t want this. I’m oppressed.'”
But when they encounter the message of Christ, Willey says the response is striking.
“They say, ‘Wait, are you telling me that because of Christ, I can be free?’ It is a completely different message. It is the true hope of Scripture, and Iranians are eager to hear that because of what they’ve been through. So SAT-7 can still broadcast the message of freedom that ultimately is eternal in Christ.”
As Iranian Christians navigate this tense moment, Willey says their witness matters deeply.
“The difficult thing is for believers in Iran right now to be salt and light,” he says. “This is an opportunity, and it’s easy for me to say, but they have an opportunity to show the hope they have in Christ…. I honestly pray that a great awakening would happen in Iran.”
Iran protests in Eastern Europe. (Photo courtesy of MNN)
A Christian woman inside Iran recently shared a prayer request with SAT-7: “Please pray for freedom for Iran and for us Christians in the country. The conditions are very hard, and I’ve not been able to get my medicines for several weeks. Food is not easier to find, and the state of education is unsatisfactory, with children feeling discouraged and young people struggling with hopelessness. Please keep Iran in your prayers.”
Header photo: Iran protests in Eastern Europe. (Photo courtesy of MNN)
