I was born in Iran in 1980, after the Islamic Revolution, and I did not witness 1979 with my own eyes. But I grew up under the fruit of it. I lived through the Iran–Iraq war years, when the nation was taught to endure shortages, silence questions, and treat dissent as treason.
I came to the United Kingdom because of my father’s academic studies, and later God showed mercy to me, a sinner and saved my soul, and so I settled here as a Christian. I did not arrive as a refugee, but I carry the weight of what that system did to my people, and what it still does.
Speaking plainly: Iran became a police state. It learned to govern by fear. To raise concerns about the Islamic regime, publicly or privately, was to invite surveillance, interrogation, prison, or worse. And to turn away from Islam, openly, was not treated as a matter of conscience, but as a threat to the state’s identity. When a government makes itself the guardian of a false and evil ideology, it cannot tolerate free speech, and it will never tolerate conversion to Christ.
That is why the current protests matter.
Bullied
They are not only about inflation or a collapsing currency, though they triggered this rise. They are about a nation weary of being managed, monitored, and morally bullied. When shopkeepers close their doors, when students chant against the regime, when security forces fire into crowds, we are not seeing a mere economic dispute. We are hearing a moral cry: enough.
The Bible is not silent on such things. “When the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn,” (Proverbs 29v2). That mourning is not sentimental. It is the groaning of ordinary life made unbearable by corrupt rulers. And it is a warning to tyrants: God sees.
At this point some will say, “Politics is not the church’s business.” That sounds pious, but it is often cowardice dressed up as spirituality. The church must not become a political machine, but neither may she pretend that injustice is irrelevant to God. Psalm 2 is not a less inspired Psalm. It declares that rulers rage, plot, and strut, and yet God remains enthroned. He is not anxious. He is not impressed. He will have the last word.
Still, Christians must ask a sharper question than the protester asks. Not only, will the Islamic Republic fall? But what will rise in its place?
Here is where I fear many of my people are confused. They look Westward and long for freedom, prosperity, and dignity. That longing is understandable. But Western liberty did not come from secular emptiness. It was not born out of atheism. It grew, in large part, out of Christian truth: the Bible opened, conscience awakened, rulers reminded that they stand under God’s law. That Protestant inheritance shaped ordered liberty.
Bondage
When liberty is cut loose from truth, it does not remain liberty for long. It turns into a new bondage, sometimes more subtle, but still a bondage. Iran must not trade one yoke for another. Our Lord’s words are not just wise sayings. They are reality: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).
We have heard in recent times that millions of Iranians have become true Christians. They have experienced miraculous dreams and visions. The fruit is not actually very promising. Yes, there is a lot of hype and noise. And yes, there are many true converts. But we should not fool ourselves, that because there are many who claim conversion, that they truly are. The fruit of Christ-likeness, holiness and faithfulness to the Word of God will show how many actually have been truly converted.
I say this as a pastor: the greatest need in Iran is not merely regime change, but heart change. A nation can throw off tyrants and still remain enslaved to sin, false religion, mysticism, paganism, fear, hatred, corruption, and unbelief. That is why the persecuted church in Iran matters so much. While cameras focus on streets, there are actually those true believers who feel very lonely, yet they seek to follow Christ. Some try to gather quietly in homes, praying, suffering, and witnessing. “Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them,” (Hebrews 13v3). If you care about Iran, remember Christ’s true people there.
Dry bones
And yet, I am not without hope. Ezekiel saw dry bones, a valley of death and helplessness. Then God spoke, and breath entered them. Iran can feel like that valley. But God is able to raise the dead.
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts,” (Zechariah 4v6). That is my prayer for Iran: justice with truth, freedom with righteousness, and above all, Christ bringing life where tyranny has tried to crush the soul. May Iranians truly cast off, Islam, other false work-based beliefs such as new age, Zoroastrianism, and turn to the life-giving Lord Jesus Christ. God is able to do these things!
If you are interested to help in publishing and broadcasting the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, please consider praying for and supporting one of the few Reformed and Evangelical and non-ecumenical Iranian ministeries called Parsa Trust - https://parsaweb.org/en
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