UN Experts Demand Answers Over Alleged Confiscation of Historic Iranian Church

Two United Nations experts have called on Iran to explain the alleged confiscation of one of the country’s oldest Protestant churches and the eviction of families living on its grounds. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Nazila Ghanea, sent an official communication to the Iranian government on July 10 concerning St Peter’s Church in Tehran, which was made public in September under UN procedures. The experts expressed concern that the alleged confiscation and closure of the church risked “rendering members of recognised religious and ethnic minorities homeless and depriving a long-standing Christian community of its place of worship.” They also said the situation did not appear to be an isolated incident but part of what they described as a “decades-long pattern of measures directed against the Christian community” in Iran, particularly Persian-speaking Christians.

The communication referred to reports of church properties being confiscated, closed, demolished, or repurposed in other Iranian cities, including Tabriz, Mashhad, Gorgan, and Karaj, noting that these actions have had a cumulative effect on Protestant worship in Persian. According to the communication, there were once around 50 Protestant churches offering services in Persian in Iran, but effectively none remain operating in Persian after three Anglican churches in Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz were not permitted to reopen following the Covid-19 pandemic. The rapporteurs said the church compound had since been confiscated and families from Iran’s recognised Armenian and Assyrian Christian minorities had been evicted from homes they had occupied for decades, with guards placed outside to prevent worshippers from entering. “Forced evictions of this kind are incompatible with international human rights law,” the rapporteurs said. The UN experts have asked the Iranian government to explain the legal and factual basis for the transfer of ownership and the eviction of 27 residents, as well as what safeguards, compensation, and alternative housing have been provided. The Iranian government had not responded to the questions at the time the communication was made public.

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