Iranian authorities have begun confiscating the oldest Protestant church in Tehran

Iranian authorities have begun forcibly seizing the property of the historic St. Peter’s Protestant Church in Tehran, accompanied by threats of arrest against members of the congregation. The incident is part of a widespread crackdown on Christian organizations in the country, according toThe Media Line.

During the ongoing operation, representatives of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have already taken control of the church’s 10,000-square-meter garden, transferring ownership to the organization. The authorities have demanded that 20 Christian families immediately leave the complex, threatening them with imprisonment. Security forces are using the mechanisms of the Revolutionary Court to revoke the religious community’s legal status, effectively declaring the parishioners “trespassers” on land that has belonged to the church for decades.

St. Peter’s Church, founded by American missionaries in 1872, has a history spanning nearly 150 years and occupies a significant portion of a neighborhood in the center of the Iranian capital. Representatives of the Iranian Evangelical Church in the diaspora state that the regime’s current actions are evidence of a deep crisis of religious freedom in the country. According to human rights activists, the Iranian authorities are acting with unprecedented boldness, disregarding the potential reaction of the international community amid ongoing international negotiations.

As a reminder, it was previously reported that unknown assailants robbed the St. Nicholas Church of the Russian Orthodox Church in Tehran, which is the oldest Orthodox church in Iran and the only Orthodox cathedral in the Iranian capital. Venerated icons were stolen from the building; Russian diplomats called the incident sacrilege and urged the perpetrators to return the sacred objects.