The Spanish Evangelical Alliance (AEE) has sent an urgent letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, calling for diplomatic intervention ahead of the imminent seizure of St Peter’s evangelical church in Tehran, the oldest Protestant church in Iran.

According to Open Doors, an organisation supporting persecuted churches that alerted the AEE to the situation, on 16 June, the Iranian authorities ordered the twelve Armenian and eight Assyrian families living on the premises to leave.

They threatened to arrest those in charge of the church if the families refused to comply. The congregation was also told to find new places of worship.

All Evangelical Focus news and opinion, on your WhatsApp.

Prior to the formal ultimatum, Iranian intelligence agents spent several hours in the building, telling residents that they had come to ensure the families “got used to their presence”. Church leaders have interpreted this as a deliberate intimidation tactic ahead of the eviction.

Almost 30 years later

The confiscation dates back to an order issued by a Revolutionary Court in 1998.

It stated that the entire compound, which comprises some four hectares in the centre of Tehran and includes a historic shrine, two schools and dozens of homes, was to be handed to and state organisation called Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO).

This state entity is also been responsible for the expropriation and demolition of several churches in recent months, including the Assyrian Presbyterian Church in Mashhad, which was demolished without prior notice as well as the Assyrian Presbyterian Church in Tabriz, the Assemblies of God church in Gorgan, and the retreat centre in Karaj.

The Council of Evangelical Churches of Iran, which runs St Peter’s, was unaware of the ruling until it came to light by chance in 2008 and was unable to appeal against it.

Since 1980, the Islamic Republic has refused to renew the Council’s registration and closed the case on the ownership at the behest of the Office of the Supreme Leader, effectively blocking any legal recourse.

Reverend Sargez Benyamin, the church’s former pastor, pointed out that there was no explanation for the original 1998 order and that many of the affected families are on low incomes and “have no chance to survive without church support”.

AEE calls for urgent action

In the letter, signed by the secretary general, Juan Carlos Parra, the AEE points out that the threat of seizure “is part of a wider pattern of confiscation and destruction of Protestant churches properties in Iran”.

He also recalls that the affected families belong to communities recognised as religious minorities under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic.

As the Spanish embassy in Tehran is currently closed, the AEE calls on the Spanish government to take action through available diplomatic channels, to halt the evictions and any measures that aim to confiscate, demolish or change the use of the complex.

The same request has been forwarded to the Spanish Ambassador to Iran.

Decades of opposition to Iranian Protestantism

St Peter’s Evangelical Church, founded in 1876 after Shah Naser al-Din Shah Qajar granted land to American missionaries, is a key historical site for the Protestant community.

“The Islamic Republic first considered worship in Persian a threat. Then it closed Persian-speaking churches. Then it prosecuted Christian converts for their faith and worship. Now the scope of the pressure has gone beyond converts and has reached historical properties, old churches, and even the places where Armenian and Assyrian citizens live”, explains Iranian lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Shirin Ebadi.

Only a dozen of the approximately 50 Protestant churches that once existed in Iran – including Presbyterian, Assemblies of God and Anglican churches – are allowed to hold services today, but strictly in the languages of ethnic minorities: Assyrian or Armenian, with an explicit ban on preaching in Persian.

Communities that fall outside this legal framework meet in house churches, which are regularly raided by the intelligence services.

The latest figures from Article18 reveal the scale of this persecution: in 2025, 254 Christians were arrested on charges related to their religious beliefs or activities.

Furthermore, “the combined total of their sentences (280 years) was higher than in 2024 (263 years), conveying a trend towards harsher sentences”.

The US State Department has classified Iran as a “Country of Particular Concern” regarding religious freedom without interruption since 1999, due to systematic and flagrant violations.

World Council of Churches statement

The AEE statement joins that of the World Council of Churches, which also calls on the Islamic Republic to immediately halt any actions that could lead to the confiscation, transfer, or demolition of church properties, and to cease all threats and legal or administrative pressures against church leaders and members of the evangelical community.