Bible Society hopes to return to Iran 'soon'

An Iranian Bible Society worker says she hopes to return to Tehran to resume the organisation's work there - decades after it was banned.

"My prayer is to see the freedom of my country... I will be among the very first people who will go back to rebuild," says Nahid Sepehri, who leads the Iranian Bible Society from abroad.

She continues: "Our office in Tehran is still there after 35 years. By God’s grace, soon, we will reopen Iran’s Bible Society." Sepehri was speaking as the conflict between Iran, the US and Israel continued to escalate.

The Iranian Bible Society in Diaspora (IBSD) has been banned from working in Iran since 1990 when its offices in Tehran (Iran's capital) were confiscated by the authorities.

"But when Nahid looks at Iran today, even in the grief she feels hope," the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) says. "She sees a people determined to bring change to their nation", and believes it won’t be long before she’s able to return.

Changing

"Iran is changing every day," said Sepehri in a BFBS email to supporters. "Very soon, I could be going to Iran to reclaim the office."

Sepehri was born in Tehran, into a family in a predominantly Muslim society, with her father having converted to Christianity before she was born. She earned a degree in Theology and served at the Iranian Bible Society’s translation department until its closure. In 1997, she migrated to the United States with her family. In March 2015, she was appointed Executive Director of the IBSD.

​Iran has been in the news for much of 2026. In recent weeks, Iranians have publicly mourned relatives killed amid the country's protests. "For some time they’ve been openly abandoning the old ways and urgently seeking something new," writes BFBS - which is working to bring God's Word to Iran.

Also, Bible-based trauma healing (more on this below) has been proven to change lives in conflict zones around the world, and it's already impacting Iranians through Sepehri and her "courageous" network of diaspora volunteers' work. "With the shock of the weekend the country is at a turning point," she says.

Bibles can't be bought and sold in Iran. The Bible Society's focus, currently, is on digital outreach programmes throughout the region.

"Thank you for praying for Iran at this crucial time as war resumes and change feels closer than ever," said the organisation.

History of the Iranian Bible Society in Diaspora (IBSD)

On 7 March 1804, at a meeting of around 300 at the London Tavern in Bishopsgate, campaigning MP William Wilberforce – and the campaigning groups he was a part of – formed the "British and Foreign Bible Society". Seven years later, the Bible Society made its first contact with Iran in the person of Henry Martyn. ^[1]

Martyn arrived in Iran in 1811, with a mission to revise his translation of the New Testament.

In 1815, the publication of the Persian New Testament provided the first printed copies of the Persian New Testament to be circulated in Iran.

In 1837 the BFBS appointed an agent for Iran and neighbouring countries; the first was Jacob Samuel, an English missionary to the Jews, who didn't reside in Iran. In 1878, both the BFBS and the American Bible Society (ABS) employed colporteurs (someone employed by a "religious" society to distribute Bibles and other "religious" tracts) in Iran - to distribute Biblical materials alongside Bibles.

In 1880, Robert Bruce – a Church Missionary Society missionary – was designated as the agent of BFBS in charge of a depot in Esfahan (city in central Iran). The BFBS had ten colporteurs by 1902.

​The year 1914 saw the opening of a Bible house in Tehran which eventually became the centre of the Bible Society's work in Iran.

Adl Nakhosteen was appointed as representative of the BFBS in Iran in 1936 – the first Iranian to serve in this position; he consolidated the organisation's work in the country, supervised construction of the new Bible House in Tehran, and served until 1966.

Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, Rev. Mohammad Sadegh Sepehri was selected and appointed as the next General Secretary of Iran’s Bible Society. IBSD continues: "It was under his leadership that for the first time in Iran’s history, the entire Bible was printed in three languages of Farsi, Armenian, and Assyrian. It was done officially with permission from the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance.

"Painfully, soon after that, in 1990, when Rev. Sepehri was the General Secretary, the Islamic government confiscated and closed the [office] in 30-Tir (Ghavam-Saltaneh) in Tehran."

The new Iranian Bible Society in Diaspora that exists today was formed in 2015 with an international board of Iranian Christians. Sepehri is Executive Director and Dr. Feridoon Mokhof - of Azerbaijani descent - is Chairman of the Board.

IBSD continues: "Although the Islamic government in Iran has confiscated and occupied the Bible Society’s premises, the good news is this: our commitment to translate, revise, print, publish, and most importantly Bible engagement is increasing more than in the past."

Trauma-healing

As well as having published and distributed a variety of Bible editions for kids and youth, one of IBSD's areas of Bible engagement is done through its "Healing the Wounds of Trauma" training sessions.

As described by IBSD: "We have [equipped hundreds of individuals in different countries globally] to listen effectively and be a part of God’s healing for the persecuted Iranians (who live inside Iran) or effectively supporting scattered refugees around the globe."

Sepehri’s team has been translating resources on trauma healing which have been used in Ukraine and adapting them to Iranians today. When Iranian Bible Society reopens, it is hoped trauma healing will be available to all communities there.

"Bible-based trauma healing has changed lives in conflict zones around the world, and it’s already impacting Iranians through Nahid’s work," the Bible Society says.

1. See Iranian Bible Society in Diaspora A Brief Overview of its Establishment and Ministries, here.