{"id":10682,"date":"2026-03-06T01:00:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=10682"},"modified":"2026-03-05T13:50:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T00:50:41","slug":"amid-irans-recent-anti-government-protests-christians-prayed-and-witnessed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=10682","title":{"rendered":"Amid Iran\u2019s recent anti-government protests, Christians prayed and witnessed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Story by Onize Oduah<\/a>\/World News<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of U.S.-Israeli military strikes, Iranian Christians hoped for a regime change to end a deadly crackdown on demonstrators<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a recent funeral for an Iranian protester killed in anti-government protests, his mother made an unusual request: She asked attendees to applaud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woman\u2019s pastor calls her \u201ccourageous.\u201d He explained the request was a sign of defiance of the regime and in honor of demonstrators killed by government forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe [also] used the funeral ceremony as an opportunity to share the gospel of Christ with everyone present,\u201d the pastor, using the pseudonym Arash Ariya, told news outlet, WORLD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past week\u2014and ahead of\u00a0Saturday military strikes\u00a0in their country by Israel and United States\u2014many Iranians have\u00a0danced, clapped, and cheered in cemeteries and around the graves of protesters killed during January\u2019s deadly anti-government demonstrations. They altered a traditional memorial rite marking the end of the 40-day mourning period, a way of offering a continued statement against a regime that killed their loved ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outbursts showed a population that was\u00a0still grappling with the deadly crackdown on anti-government protests that began in December. Authorities say more than 7,000 people have died, but other Iranian reports say the actual toll could\u00a0exceed\u00a036,000. For Christians, who make up a\u00a0tiny minority<\/a>\u00a0in the Muslim country and face persecution for their beliefs, the protests came after an already difficult year. Pastors and Christian advocates say the unrest brought opportunities for Christians to practice their beliefs and pray for long-lasting change in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile,\u00a0U.S.\u00a0President Donald Trump on Saturday morning\u00a0described\u00a0the overnight\u00a0launch of a massive and ongoing U.S. military operation in Iran, one that comes in partnership with Israel and followed\u00a0a series of failed\u00a0diplomatic talks with Iranian officials. Trump had wanted assurances that\u00a0Tehran will not obtain nuclear weapons but said Iran had refused to make concessions. He\u00a0vowed to\u00a0annihilate Iran\u2019s nuclear program and its navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weekend military operation followed months of political\u00a0unrest in Iran. The anti-government\u00a0demonstrations there\u00a0began in late December after shopkeepers in Tehran\u00a0shut\u00a0their doors to protest the country\u2019s devalued currency and a surge in the price of staples like rice and meat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon, the outcry\u00a0grew<\/a>\u00a0into calls for the ouster of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with crowds chanting \u201cDeath to the dictator.\u201d The protests mostly drew Iranian youth seeking political change and more freedoms and tired of the heavy-handed Islamic establishment. Some analysts have called the protests Iran\u2019s\u00a0biggest uprising since the 1979 revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts say the regime may have since\u00a0partially lifted\u00a0an internet ban for some users, but many Iranians who have access likely have it only intermittently. Photos posted online in recent days\u00a0showed families sifting through rooms of body bags, trying to identify their loved ones. Some Iranians with internet access told the news organization Iran International that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was arresting and killing people who attended or supported the protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In what is being called \u201csilent executions,\u201d authorities purportedly shipped the bodies of people they executed to morgues, with the Revolutionary Guard claiming the deaths occurred during the protests. Doctors who gave medical care to protesters were also reportedly arrested and killed. Ariya said at least 18 Christians were among the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regime\u2019s lethal crackdown quelled many of the protests, but smaller-scale demonstrations continued. Students protested at five universities in the capital city of Tehran and another school in Mashhad last Sunday to\u00a0coincide\u00a0with the end of the mourning period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donnell Shariat heads Iran Alive Ministries, a Christian nonprofit that broadcasts the gospel into Iran via satellite. She said that during the protests, she discouraged Iranian Christians from attending the demonstrations due to safety concerns, but she also suggested how they could support those who do. Shariat partners with Texan healthcare providers who teach Iranians via online classes how to bandage cuts, treat bullet wounds, and set broken bones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She had also encouraged Christians to distribute food, water, and clothing to marchers and use the opportunity to talk with other Iranians about their beliefs or pray over protesters. Some heeded the advice: Shariat said one woman living in an apartment on a main street in Tehran heard protesters chanting \u201cdeath to the regime.\u201d The woman prayed over the protesters for an hour, asking the Lord to turn their chants of death to cheers for liberty. Within a half hour, according to Shariat, the words of the protesters began changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shariat described another story in which a woman in Tehran was gathering apples in her backyard when she heard gunshots. She ran to the scene and found a man and a woman\u2014likely protesters\u2014injured and bleeding on an empty street. Fearing the state police would return to kill them, she rushed them into her house and treated their wounds. She then shared the gospel with them and hid them in her home, Shariat said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Shariat, such stories continued to emerge as Iranians regained internet access. She said underground believers have claimed to her that 3,000 people are converting to Christianity per week. The group links the conversions to the growing discontent with the regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people have been suffering inside [Iran], and have been fed up for years and years,\u201d said Shah Ahmadi, Iran Alive\u2019s director of strategic alliances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0released last week by the Middle East Concern, Open Doors, and two other religious freedom advocacy groups found that Iran detained 254 Christians for their religious activities or beliefs last year, nearly twice as many as the year before. In nearly all of the arrests, officers used vague interpretations of the Iranian Penal Code,\u00a0according\u00a0to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the arrests followed the end of the 12-day war between Iran and Israel last June. More than 50 Christians were detained the next month, and Iran\u2019s Ministry of Intelligence and Security called them Iranian spies trained under a \u201c\u2018Zionist\u2019 Christian evangelisation movement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Iranian-American woman told WORLD that many of the anti-government protesters wrote their wills before going out to the streets. \u201cI have lived in Iran. I know what it is like to live like that,\u201d she said. \u201cAnimals don\u2019t do what [regime leaders] do. They are savages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shariat and Ahmadi said many Iranians believe that interventions from Trump or Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could end the regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During U.S.-Iranian negotiations ahead of this weekend\u2019s attacks, Ariya said some Iranian Christians were worried but remained hopeful. \u201cEstablishing churches in Iran and sharing the gospel freely\u2014this is the dream for all of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014with additional reporting from Hannah Bates and Elizabeth Shenk<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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