While bombs and missiles have been pummelling communities around them over the past days, Christians living in several Middle East countries have been locked in a deadly battle to spread the gospel to resistant sectors for decades.
Calls for prayers from underground churches operating in Muslim-dominated countries have significantly increased since Saturday.
Nicky Carara, who serves missionaries in several Islamic nations, said she has been receiving requests for prayers from those who undertake missionary work in the Middle East. On Sunday morning, the day after the February 28 attack on Iran by the US and Israel, she spoke to one Iranian who is not immune to the persecution faced by Christians daily.
“He was actually arrested in the Middle East for evangelising, and we were trying to get him out, and he is out now… but his family is there [in Iran], and they are Christians, and he can’t hear from them, so we have been praying for them,” said Carara, who, from her base in Jamaica, has created a network of intercessors and a support team for these missionaries.
Most churches in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries are underground, but the Iranian evangelist she spoke to was spreading the gospel on the streets when he was arrested. His family cannot afford for others in their radical Muslim community to know of their true identity, and he has no idea to what extent the ongoing onslaught of missiles has affected them.
“It’s a really sticky situation there in Iran. There is no internet; the internet is out, so he cannot hear from his family, so we just pray,” Carara told the Freedom Come Rain newspaper.
Although Carara interacts with missionaries in at least two other Middle Eastern countries, she says their location is not information readily shared because of the heightened levels of persecution. Missionary organisation Transform Iran Ministry estimates that there are over a million Iranian Muslims who have embraced Christ in the last 45 years. According to Open Doors, Christians in Iran are viewed as a threat from the West to undermine Islamic rule. “House churches are commonly raided, often followed by arrests, interrogations, pressure to inform on other believers and long-term imprisonment. This is typically under charges of breaching ‘national security’. The conditions in prison are dire, and bail sums can be extortionately high, financially paralysing families. For believers who are released, that typically comes with strict conditions, such as exile to another part of Iran or self-censorship,” the organisation stated. Open Doors raises awareness about Christian persecution by providing an annual ranking of the places where it is most dangerous to be a Christian. Iran was among the top 10 for its 2026 ranking released in January.
“The conflict between Israel and Iran has intensified the oppression of converts, who are often seen as sympathising with ‘the West’. In the immediate aftermath of the ceasefire with Israel, at least 54 Christians were arrested in 21 cities. State media accused the 54 Christians who were arrested of committing espionage. The television report suggested links between Evangelical Christians and foreign intelligence services, a narrative that paints an entire faith community as a security threat, gravely adding to their vulnerability,” Open Doors reported.
The death toll in Iran since the start of the US-Israeli attacks had risen to over 1000 by Wednesday afternoon, according to multiple sources. Fatalities have also been reported in other countries in the Middle East, as Iran attacked US assets in the region. Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have hit airports, residential buildings and hotels.
Hope for a revival
As tensions escalate in the region, reports are that many Christians are cautiously hopeful that the toppling of Iran’s regime will lead to a revival. Key figures in Iran’s government, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have died in the attacks.
Iran, once known as Persia, appears in the Bible nearly 30 times. Its king, Cyrus the Great, ended Israel’s decades-long captivity by the Babylonians. The book of Esther revolves around Persian King Ahasuerus and his Jewish queen, Hadassah. The Old Testament prophet Daniel also served in the royal courts of Babylon and Persia.
“What the secular world views as mere geopolitics, many Christians recognise as part of a larger spiritual narrative: a storyline where oppression crumbles and the Gospel flourishes. President Donald J. Trump’s role in these developments – his flaws notwithstanding – exemplifies a righteous stand against tyranny, potentially ushering in freedom for the Iranian people and opening doors for spiritual revival,” wrote Isaac Beck.
“This isn’t a blind endorsement; Trump’s motives may include strategic interests or political calculations. Yet, Scripture abounds with examples of God using flawed individuals for righteous ends. Consider Cyrus the Great, the Persian king whom God anointed as “My shepherd” (Isaiah 44:28) to free the Jewish exiles, despite Cyrus’s pagan background,” he said.