With executions, prison sentences, and businesses forcibly closed following the protests, the regime’s grip appears tighter than ever – even as nuclear talks and regional tensions dominate international headlines.

Iran protests in Eastern Europe. (Photo courtesy of MNN)

For Iranians at home and abroad, the loss is deeply personal.

Denise Godwin with International Media Ministries (IMM) says members of their Persian expatriate film crew are carrying the weight of it every day.

“The news I get directly from them and their outrage over the killings in Iran and the abuse and the persecution is just heartbreaking,” Godwin shares.

“Speaking to one of the actors and key members of our crew, she said, ‘There’s nobody who doesn’t know someone that’s been killed.'”

The Iranian expatriate community remains tightly connected to family and friends back home. Godwin says, “Many of them, of course, have fled because of either political persecution or religious persecution, and they can’t go back. They can’t check on their families other than through the media…. So it’s really an intense time for them as they hear of deaths, either of friends or family or acquaintances, or they just can’t communicate with someone back home.”

At the same time, IMM is preparing to release a Persian-language dramatization of Esther’s story from the Bible — a story about faith and courage in the face of a regime bent on destruction. The project was filmed with Iranian actors and crew last summer.

“It’s pretty parallel to the situation going on in Iran. I mean, now there’s way more than one person risking their life,” Godwin says. “They’re just done with abuse, and they need hope.”

Esther: Queen of Hope (Photo courtesy of International Media Ministries)

That hunger for hope is especially poignant as Ramadan approaches. Godwin says, “There’s always searching going on during Ramadan by people who aren’t at ease with this religion, who are seeking God and not finding Him there.”

Please pray for grieving families, for protection over underground believers, and for the Gospel to reach those disillusioned and searching. Pray also for IMM as they work to deliver the Esther Project into Iran by summer.

“For such a time as this, God has His people in place. For such a time as this, God has sent out His message of hope. Jesus died for these people to give them eternal life.”

You can learn more about International Media Ministries and the Esther Project at their website.

Header photo: Iran protests in Eastern Europe. (Photo courtesy of MNN)

International tensions continue, too, as the United States moved some military assets toward the Middle East last week. On Friday, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning the “violent crackdown on peaceful protests” by Iranian security forces. The Iranian government has rejected this resolution.

Azadi Square, Tehran, Iran (Stock photo courtesy of Erfan Ro via Unsplash)

“My concern is, number one, people who are created in the image of God are being killed,” says Fadi Sharaiha with the MENA Leadership Center. “I need to remind us that everyone is created in God’s image.”

U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reports 5,848 people killed, with over 17,000 more deaths being investigated, and more than 41,200 arrests. The continued nationwide internet blackout makes verification even harder. 

Sharaiha is also concerned that Christians in Iran will be targeted in the crackdown. Not only that, but what happens in Iran affects Lebanon, the West Bank, Gaza, and the entire region, he says.

“What is really, I would say, troubling is that we don’t know what will be the final solution between the West and Iran. I mean, on whose expense would it be, the deal? Or if there will be any deal,” he says. 

Regime change won’t solve everything

Questions remain on whether the Iranian government will fall. But Sharaiha offers this reality check: “If the regime ceases to exist, what would be the option? What are the options?” he says. “We’re hearing the son of the ex-shah that was thrown off the throne, [Reza Pahlavi]. Now he has good potential, and the hope is that things will go well.”

However, Sharaiha says that in the case of any religious regime, the battle is against thoughts and doctrine, not only the army. Change in Iran has a long way to go.

Yet in all the turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa today, Sharaiha says, “I need to remind myself every single night that God is sitting on the throne, and God is good. God is sovereign. Whatever is happening is according to His will, and He is Lord of all.”

Find your place in the story

Although true change will take a long time in Iran, there’s something we can do today. “My prayer is that Christians in the West, and whoever is reading this, remind themselves that they have a bigger family,” says Sharaiha. “We are all one family of Christ.”

(Photo courtesy of Zahra Amiri/Unsplash)

Please pray for underground believers in Iran who are in extreme danger. Pray for wisdom for world leaders, and above all, “that God’s name would be glorified, and people will know that God is good and that Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He is the only One who can bring peace to the families in Iran, to the country of Iran.” 

The MENA Leadership Center offers courses and programs tailored to the region, which includes Iran. They recently offered courses on religious persecution and on trauma healing for refugee ministry. 

“My prayer and my hope is that at some point we will be helping the church and [able to] strengthen the church in Iran, inside Iran,” says Sharaiha.

Header photo is a representative stock photo from Iran courtesy of Mashid Saberpour via Unsplash.

Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran (Photo By FDD – FDD Maximum Support: Operationalizing the Other Iran Policy Event, CC BY-SA 2.0)

The government has certainly tried to regain control, cutting internet services last week and using violent force. US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported Sunday that over 10,600 people have been detained and at least 544 killed in the first two weeks of protests that began December 28, 2025.

But there’s another side to the crackdown. “The people are fighting back,” says Lana Silk with Transform Iran. “There have been images of the Iranian police running from the crowds because they were at risk. I’ve seen images of clerics who’ve been driving away, trying to hide their identity. You know, the people are angry at the Islamic regime, and all the clerics symbolize Islam in Iran.” 

Iran has gone through other protests in the years since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. However, Silk says promised support from the United States and encouragement from Iran’s exiled crown prince have helped Iranians across all demographics come together in an unprecedented way. But it’s not enough. 

“They’re fighting with stones and sticks, and the government is fighting with machine guns. It’s a totally different kind of battle,” says Silk. “So this is not the time to go, ‘Well done, Iranians. Good job. Now we sit back and watch you take hold of your land.’ They still need help.” 

What’s more, the protests and crackdowns are signs of a spiritual battle that is touching not only Iran but the Middle East today, says Silk. “We need the support of the global church to see a final push through. This isn’t just about one country in isolation. If the enemy loses his hold in Iran, there is a huge domino effect that comes out of that.

“So let’s pray with faith. Let’s get behind Christian ministries who are serving in that area and empower them — again, also with prayer, but with resources, with support, with advocacy.”

(Photo courtesy of Transform Iran)

Transform Iran is one such ministry. For years, the team has been praying in faith and getting ready for God’s answer for an open Iran.

“We have been preparing with people, with Bibles, with plans and projects in place, ready to step in and do good in that land for the people of Iran,” says Silk. “So we’re watching carefully, and we’re making sure that we ourselves are ready for whatever comes next.”

Pray for God’s kingdom to come in Iran and the surrounding nations. You’re standing with believers in Iran when you do so. 

“All Iranians have a great sense of hope right now. But you know, the Christians have been praying about this,” says Silk. “There has been a lot of prayer for many, many years of Christians praying for a change, whether it was a shift in regime or whether it was repentance in the Islamic leadership. One way or another, Iran needed a change.” 

Header photo of Tehran, Iran (Photo courtesy of Mohammad Amirahmadi/Unsplash)

The court found the exiled leader guilty of ordering the lethal crackdown on student-led protests in 2024. Clashes with police led to the deaths of up to 1,400 people, with thousands more wounded. Many celebrate the verdict as justice for the dead. Others dismiss it as politically motivated.

Hasina is currently in India, where she lived decades ago after the assassination of her father, Bangladesh’s founding president. India’s Ministry of External Affairs has issued a statement acknowledging the Bangladeshi court’s verdict, but it has not said whether it will allow Hasina to be extradited.

“There’s outrage on both sides of it, and it’s just going to continue to accentuate the instabilities that are going on in Bangladesh and have been for a number of years,” says Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations.

(Photo of 2024 quota reform movement courtesy of Rayhan9d/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

“A lot of people that we speak to say for a 10- to 15-year run [under Hasina], there was a lot of real positive things in the development of the country. Yet at the same time, you’re talking about a country that has ranked among the highest — not only in Asia, but in the entire world —as far as levels of corruption. It’s hard to unweave those two things.”

The interim government, which has been in place since shortly after Hasina fled the country last year, has called for public order surrounding the verdict.

“Right now, there’s calls for lockdowns all over the place. A lot of the schools are not even operating today, tomorrow,” says Kelley. 

For Christians, there’s another layer to be aware of. Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority nation with more than 270 people groups considered to be unreached with the gospel. The largest is the Bengali Muslims, numbering above 135 million. It’s also densely populated, which Kelley says makes any metropolitan demonstration incredibly disruptive.

“You’re talking about a country the size of Michigan, [which] has 10 million people, Bangladesh having 175 million people,” says Kelley. “The corruption [and] the instability on a physical level in Bangladesh pales in comparison to the desperation that that country has for the gospel.”

A crowded street in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital city. (Photo courtesy of Niloy Biswas/Unsplash)

Partners of Unknown Nations give solar-powered audio Bibles. They see people turning to Jesus.

“In these countries where there’s so much turmoil and tension, everybody suffers. Everybody suffers,” says Kelley. “Just to survive in Bangladesh is becoming difficult, and then on top of that, you’ve got this incredibly intense persecution for those who do make the decision to follow Christ. Yet, we are hearing on a daily basis [of] people doing exactly that.”

Now that you know, please pray! Ask God to raise many more Christians to work in the nation faithfully. Learn more here about the mission of Unknown Nations.

Header photo: On the occasion of her repatriation day, Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina addressed the leaders of the party and its affiliated organizations today, Friday, May 17, 2024, at Ganabhaban. (Press Information Department – pressinform.gov.bd (archive), Public Domain)

Zion was once a massive house church. But it was banned in 2018 after refusing to install government surveillance cameras in its sanctuary. The congregation has continued to meet in smaller groups in creative ways since then, despite continued challenges. 

This series of detainments has received the condemnation of the US State Department.

A cross outside of a government-approved Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) church in Suzhou, China. (Photo courtesy of IMB)

“It is a new and significant crackdown that should get our attention and should refocus our thoughts and prayers towards the people in China that are facing ever-increasing challenges and outright persecution,” says a gospel worker supporting the Church in China. 

Last month, the Chinese government issued new restrictions on how religious leaders can and cannot use the internet. According to a report from Bitter Winter, Zion Church’s coordinated arrests seem to stem from church leaders disregarding those regulations.

“[Online platforms] became very important during COVID and have been a really important tool for especially the house churches, but the registered churches as well,” explains the gospel worker. 

As Chinese believers continue to pivot under government rules, they need wisdom for how to minister the gospel. 

“The Christians in China are not afraid to take some risks and to do things that might get [them] in trouble, but if they don’t have to and there’s strategies otherwise, then they’d love to take advantage of that,” says the gospel worker. 

Pray for younger believers to glean insight from the older generation on how to endure and adapt to persecution.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Donald Tong/Pexels.

Photo of Tehran, Iran courtesy of Hamid Mohammad Hossein Zadeh Hashemi via Unsplash.

According to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, more than 50 Christians are among those who have been arrested since the June 24 ceasefire.

Nazanin Baghestani with Heart4Iran says the regime’s strategy of fear is working.

“People are afraid to call. People are afraid to talk to us. All their phone calls, all their apps are being tapped. Everything is monitored, and people inside the country have lost their hope.” 

Iran’s exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, has led public dialogue on what a democratic Iran could look like. But Baghestani says politics are not the real frontline for the Church.

“Even if Reza Pahlavi comes on the scene, it doesn’t mean that the root of Islam is broken. It’s still there, and the persecution and the hardships will still be there,” she said. 

“We should pray that in spite of all this darkness, people will see the Lord.” 

Heart4Iran broadcasts Christian satellite TV into Iran, a medium that the Iranian government can’t so easily control. It’s a lifeline for isolated believers. So is the work of Heart4Iran’s call center team. They are carefully reaching out to Iranians. 

One man they connected with told them, “I see this as a sign from God that He still loves me.” 

One woman was overjoyed and said, “This is the first time I’m speaking to a Christian. We don’t know any Christians here, but we [have been] watching your channels for four years, and this is the first time I’ve called. I am so happy that I’m talking with a Christian.”

They are also seeing God do miracles! One widow reached out to the Heart4Iran team in desperate need of money and daily provisions.

(Photo courtesy of Heart4Iran)

“Of course, we cannot help her from here. We prayed for her. We encouraged her to believe in the Lord,” said Baghestani. “Unexpectedly, she received money from [a] far relative who owed her [late] husband. He paid the amount that he owed out of nowhere.”

Praise God for sending hope to His people. Pray for great spiritual awakening in Iran. Pray for protection for Iranian Christians, that they will not be discovered by authorities. 

“[We are] praying for hope, courage, strength, that in spite of all their disappointments, all their hardships, the inflation, the arrests, the tensions, the fear…that they will have hope and they will press on,” says Baghestani. 

Header photo is an image capture courtesy of Heart4Iran.

This week, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) called again for Iran to be held accountable for “grave violations of religious freedom.” 

Mike Ansari with Heart4Iran explains, “While these protests began in response to Mahsa Amini’s death, on [the] world stage they have evolved into a much wider call for change, discussing issues of authoritarian rule, economic disparity, religious oppression and freedom of expression.

“Her death became, if you would, a beacon of hope for many people who have grievances about Iran and also the global human rights issues that are taking place everywhere.”

Image of a protest from the past two years (Photo courtesy of SalamPix/ABACA/picture alliance via Heart4Iran)

Ansari says women in Iran still face persecution and challenges, while other realities have worsened since September 2022.

“Many people that are protesting or have protested either been killed, detained or disappeared. The regime has pretty much tightened control over all forms of dissent.”

In addition to this, Ansari says the Iranian regime has increased internet censorship, curtailing freedom of speech. But he adds that it’s important to note what has changed for the better. 

“The protests that we saw following Mahsa Amini’s death are showing the world that the resilience and the courage of average, ordinary Iranian citizens is commendable, despite brutal crackdowns, atrocities and persecution,” he continues.

“We also seen a much stronger women’s movement in Iran that is being supported by other women across the world. It’s a bold act of resistance to face the severe punishments. Iranian women, even today in Iran, are pushing back on compulsory hijab laws.” 

The best response right now is prayer. 

“The gospel of Jesus is deeply intertwined in the theme of hope, freedom and justice,” Ansari says. 

“Ask God to comfort those who’ve been affected by violence and heal their both physical and emotional wounds. We need to also pray for change of hearts — pray for those people who are subjecting average Iranian people to oppression, that they might come to know and love the Lord and the justice of Christ.”

Learn more about Heart4Iran’s multifaceted gospel ministry today. 

Header photo courtesy of Heart4Iran.

It all started two weeks ago when student protesters began demanding an end to a quota that reserves 30% of government jobs for relatives of freedom fighters.

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says, “One of the greatest fears that the government would have would be a student movement. It’s incredibly intimidating because they know the power of that and the substance of that. That’s what was happening, and so they began to negotiate to ease some of these quota restrictions.

“So the good news is that things are moving in the right direction. The bad news is it just was very revealing of how unstable a country like Bangladesh is.”

Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Photo courtesy of Niloy Biswas/Unsplash)

Along with the social unrest, Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority nation in deep spiritual darkness.

“If the Church around the world is looking at Bangladesh, they’re going to find a country that is in great need of the Gospel,” Kelley says. “I mean, you can’t look at a country of 173 million people, top 10 population of countries in the world, and less than 2% Christian [without] saying, ‘Oh my goodness, where is the Church at? Where are our missions efforts at?’”

So what can the Church do? Kelley says, “We need to get Bibles in there!”

Unknown Nations is reaching Bangladesh with biblical hope. In connection with ministry partners, “We distribute solar-powered audio Bibles by the hundreds in the Bengali language.”

Pray for the peace of Christ to permeate Bangladesh as a result of millions of people hearing Scripture and choosing to follow Jesus.

Support Unknown Nations’s audio Bible distribution ministry here!

Header photo courtesy of Unknown Nations.

Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody on September 16, 2022, sparked months of nationwide protests. See our coverage here. Today, security forces line the streets of Amini’s hometown to prevent new demonstrations marking the occasion.

(Graphic courtesy of Transform Iran)

Authorities began installing additional checkpoints and increased law enforcement personnel in city centers on Sunday. Several relatives of the protestors killed in last year’s unrest have been arrested.

Earlier this week, officials issued televised warnings about the regime’s “zero-tolerance” stance on “any attempts to incite instability.”

Protestors may or may not take to the streets tomorrow, but Transform Iran’s Lana Silk says the movement has staying power.

“Before, there was disgruntlement and unhappiness with how the government controlled and dictated what they could and couldn’t do. In the last year, we’ve seen an increase in the courage of the people in Iran, their defiance, and hope because they see that something is happening,” Silk says.

“There are cracks in the walls, giving them extra impetus to keep going.”

As Iran prepares to fight its own people, you can wage war in the heavens. Look for a description of spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6. Tomorrow, Transform Iran is hosting an intentional prayer and fasting period for Iran through its Persian Community Church.

You can join the gathering here.

“We are praying that God would have mercy on the everyday people of Iran and protect them over the coming weeks,” Silk says.

“We saw hundreds of young people die and get tortured last year. Let’s not see that happen again this year.”

Header image courtesy of Transform Iran.

Iran restored the controversial morality police department earlier this month to counter “hijab negligence.” Analysts say the move only fuels an anti-regime movement approaching its first anniversary.

Last September, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in morality police custody, sparking the most significant anti-government movement to date.

Revolt carries a heavy price in Iran. Heart4Iran’s Nazanin Baghestani says, “We get calls every day from women [inside Iran] being traumatized, just being on edge.”

Of fear and freedom

Baghestani oversees Heart4Iran’s 24/7 call center ministry. More about that here. Many young girls like Samira* reach out because they are afraid and have nowhere else to turn.

“People print our phone number and put it on the streets in Tehran and other cities. She found our number on one of these stickers and called us,” Baghestani says.

“She said, ‘Can you help me? I’ve heard you pray for us. I need prayer.’”

Fear ruled Samira’s life after the police took her into custody. “She was always on edge; she was paranoid [about] everything, so she wouldn’t leave the house,” Baghestani says.

“She fainted a couple of times on the street because of her stress.”

Baghestani counseled Samira over several calls, reading God’s Word and praying together. “One night, she encountered Jesus in her room,” Baghestani says.

(Photo courtesy of Heart4Iran)

“She said, ‘I didn’t see anything, but I knew Jesus was there loving and protecting me.’ From then on, she was free. She said, ‘I go out [now]. I’m not afraid anymore because I know Jesus is protecting me.’”

Find your place in the story

You can help women and girls like Samira through Heart4Iran. Learn how here.

A simultaneous clampdown on religious minorities needs your prayerful response as well. More than 50 believers were arrested on unknown charges immediately following the reinstatement of the morality police.

“The reason for this sudden surge in nationwide arrests of Christians is unclear at this stage,” Article18’s advocacy director Mansour Borji says.

“What is obvious is that Iran has begun a fresh crackdown on civil liberties, and the traditionally vulnerable groups, like Christians, are on the front line of those targeted.”

*Pseudonym

Header and story images courtesy of Heart4Iran.