Protect St Peter’s Evangelical Church and Return Its Evicted Residents

Addressed to:

Ayatollah Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, Head of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of IranSeyyed Parviz Fattah, Head of the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order

Copied to:

Dr Masoud Pezeshkian, President of the Islamic Republic of IranSeyyed Reza Salehi-Amiri, Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and HandicraftsThe Office of the Supreme LeaderThe Governor of Tehran Province

We, the undersigned, call on the Iranian authorities to reverse the confiscation of St Peter’s Evangelical Church compound in Tehran, return its evicted residents and congregation, and prevent the demolition, sale, transfer, or repurposing of this irreplaceable religious and cultural site.

St Peter’s Evangelical Church, situated on Si-Tir Street in central Tehran, is more than 150 years old and is among Iran’s oldest Protestant churches. The compound was not simply a parcel of valuable urban land. It contained the church, two schools, residential homes, and offices belonging to Christian institutions, including the Bible Society and the Synod, also known as the Council, of Evangelical Churches of Iran. For generations, it served simultaneously as a home, school, place of worship, and centre of communal life for Armenian, Assyrian, and Persian-speaking Christians.

The present crisis is the culmination of a much longer history.

Following the 1979 revolution, portions of the property were reportedly taken over gradually, including premises used by the Bible Society. The authorities also repeatedly refused to renew the legal registration of the Council of Evangelical Churches of Iran.

In 1998, a Revolutionary Court reportedly ordered the transfer of the entire compound to the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order, commonly known as EIKO. The Council, which maintains that it owns the land, says it was not informed of this judgment until 2008. Its attempts to challenge the decision were subsequently obstructed by the authorities’ refusal to recognise or re-register it as a legal religious body.

A judgment concerning an entire religious compound, issued without the owner’s effective participation, reportedly concealed from that owner for ten years, and then enforced decades later against low-income residents, raises fundamental questions of notice, representation, access to evidence, and the right to appeal.

The final stage of the seizure began in June 2026. Reports indicate that, on or about 16 June, 12 Armenian and eight Assyrian families were instructed to leave their homes within two weeks. Church leaders were allegedly warned that they could be arrested if the residents did not comply. Members of the congregation were told to find other churches in which to worship.

In late June, six Ministry of Intelligence agents reportedly entered the compound and remained there for several hours. According to witnesses cited by Article18, they told residents that they had come so the families could “become accustomed” to their presence. Some residents were reportedly offered payments to vacate, but financial inducements offered under the pressure of an imminent eviction cannot substitute for free consent, due process, or the right to remain in one’s home.

By 10 July, seven or eight families had reportedly vacated their homes, and the remaining residents had been ordered to leave by the following weekend. According to UN experts, the final resident left on 12 July 2026. On 15 July, Nazila Ghanea, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, and Mai Sato, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, condemned the confiscation and eviction. They reported that 27 Armenian and Assyrian Christians had been expelled from the compound and warned that its buildings might now be demolished.

That fear is well founded. On 4 June 2026, the historic Evangelical Presbyterian church in Mashhad was demolished with heavy machinery, without advance public notice or a satisfactory official explanation. The church had previously been confiscated and prevented from operating. On 18 June, the World Council of Churches called on Iran to stop the confiscation, transfer, demolition, or repurposing of church properties. An Assyrian Presbyterian church in Tabriz had similarly been forcibly closed by the Ministry of Intelligence and EIKO on 9 May 2019.

These cases form part of a broader restriction of Protestant Christian life in Iran. St Peter’s was compelled to discontinue Persian-language services more than a decade ago. Of approximately 50 Protestant churches that once operated in Iran, only a small number are now permitted to function, generally on condition that they do not hold services in Persian. The Anglican churches in Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz that previously conducted Persian-language services have reportedly not been permitted to reopen since the COVID-19 pandemic.

These actions contradict Iran’s own constitutional guarantees. Article 13 recognises Christians as a religious minority and protects their right to perform religious rites and provide religious education. Article 22 protects a person’s property and residence. Article 26 permits religious societies belonging to recognised minorities. Article 31 recognises the right of every Iranian family to adequate housing, and Article 34 guarantees access to competent courts.

Iran is also a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Articles 18 and 27 of the former protect the right to practise religion in community with others and the rights of religious and linguistic minorities. Article 11 of the latter protects the right to adequate housing. International standards on eviction require genuine consultation, reasonable notice, access to legal remedies, adequate compensation, and protection against homelessness.

We therefore call on the relevant Iranian authorities to:

1. Issue an immediate, written suspension of the confiscation order and all activity at the compound, including demolition, construction, sale, transfer, subdivision, removal of religious objects, or change of use.
2. Permit the evicted residents to return safely and without conditions, restore their access to their homes, and reimburse reasonable relocation and other direct expenses caused by the eviction. Any resident who cannot or does not wish to return must receive adequate alternative housing and compensation determined through genuine consultation.
3. Restore access to the church and its facilities to the congregation, clergy, schools, and Christian organisations that used them, and guarantee that no member of the community will be arrested, questioned, or otherwise penalised for returning.
4. Revoke the transfer of the compound to EIKO and restore its ownership to the Council of Evangelical Churches of Iran. If the authorities dispute the Council’s ownership, they must publish the 1998 judgment and all subsequent orders, suspend enforcement, and provide a new and independent judicial hearing in which the Council has full access to the case file, legal representation, and an effective right of appeal.
5. Renew the legal registration of the Council of Evangelical Churches of Iran, so that it can own and administer property, employ staff, conduct religious and educational activities, and defend its rights before Iranian courts.
6. Place the entire compound under enforceable heritage protection and arrange an urgent inspection by qualified, independent heritage specialists, with representatives of the church present. The inspection report and any development or ownership plans for the property must be made public.
7. Investigate the reported threats against church leaders and the conduct of officials involved in the eviction. The identities and institutional affiliations of those who ordered and implemented the operation should be disclosed, and anyone responsible for unlawful threats, coercion, or destruction of property should be held accountable.
8. Allow Christian communities to worship collectively in Persian as well as Armenian and Assyrian, and permit Protestant and Anglican churches closed or prevented from reopening to resume peaceful religious services.
9. Clarify the legal status of Mohammad Nikbakht, who was reportedly arrested with violence on 14 March 2026 and held in Dastgerd Prison. He must receive immediate access to his family and a lawyer of his choosing and be protected from torture, coerced confession, and threats of execution. He should be released unless promptly charged with a recognisable criminal offence and tried in proceedings meeting international fair-trial standards.
10. Provide a public response to the UN experts’ communication, including the present location and housing circumstances of the evicted residents, the legal basis asserted for the confiscation, and a binding assurance that the compound will not be demolished or repurposed.

St Peter’s belongs not only to one congregation but to Iran’s religious, architectural, and social history. Returning the compound would protect vulnerable families, preserve an important part of Tehran’s heritage, and demonstrate that constitutional protections for Iran’s recognised religious minorities have practical meaning.

We urge the Iranian authorities to act before further irreversible damage is done.-