Pastor Tat Stewart, who grew up in Tehran as the son of medical missionaries, is prayerfully watching developments within Iran as government protestors challenge the regime at the same time its Islamic leaders deal with President Trump's promise of a military strike without a deal.

A guest on the Christian Television Network (CTN), Stewart told the Pray Until Saturation Happens (PUSH) program the turbulence in Iran will hopefully lead to great advancements for the Kingdom of God. He urged Believers worldwide to pray for the broken hearts of all those who have lost loved ones, an estimated 10,000-40,000 protestors, to the bloody hands of the Islamist regime.

Whatever the number of people killed, a significant part of Iran's population, which includes many Christians, is grieving the losses of family and friends.

Stewart also urged people to pray for Iranian Christians who are incarcerated. As prisoners, they are often abused and denied needed medications. Upon release from jail, these Christians are aged and broken, he pointed out. Prayer for comfort and freedom is needed as well for imprisoned Christians, Stewart said in that recent interview. 

After leaving Iran following the Islamic Revolution, Stewart and his wife Patty founded Persian churches around the Washington, DC area and in Colorado, where today they lead the congregation Iranian Christian Church of Colorado - Faith Presbyterian Church near Denver. 

Fluent in the two languages spoken by many Iranians, Stewart's ministry is focused on pastoring, discipling, and training Persian Christians. His website includes 100 sermons in the predominant language, Farsi.

Authored by Stewart, his book No Stranger provides a unique perspective into the lives of Iranian Christians before and after the Islamic Revolution. (Screengrab image: via YouTube-Colorado Prays)

When the Stewarts ministered in Iran, there were an estimated 3,000 Protestant Christians. Today, a conservative estimate elevates that number to one million Iranian Christians, of whom 99 percent left Islam to convert.

His own estimate of 40,000 killed by Iran's Islamist hardliners is supported by a recent annual report on rights violations against Christians.

Published by Article 18 in collaboration with Middle East Concern, Open Doors and CSW, the report titled "Scapegoats" cites the scapegoating of Christians following the 12-day war with Israel.

Referencing protests that began in Iran late last year, the report linked them to demands for an end to the Islamic Republic's stranglehold on the country.

"The response to those protests has been horrifying," the report states, "with reports of many thousands killed, including several Christians, and every Iranian—regardless of their religious background—affected."

"The road ahead for Iran appears far from clear, but as we release this latest annual report of rights violations committed against Christians in 2025, we stand with the people of Iran in their call for leaders who will act on their behalf, rather than repress them."

"For 47 years, the Iranian people have been subjected to a regime that not only consistently fails to uphold human rights for its citizens, but brutally quashes dissenting voices, opinions or beliefs," the report adds.

In its key findings, Scapegoat indicates the number of Christians arrested on charges related to religious belief and activities doubled in 2025 over the previous year—254 compared to 139 in 2024.

The number of Christians sentenced to prison, exile or forced labor more than doubled from 25 in 2024 to 57 in 2025. At the end of 2025, 43 Christians were serving sentences, and another 16 were held in pre-trial detention, according to the report.

Eleven Christians—possibly more—were sentenced to 10 years or more in 2025, the report states. Nine years of exile and 249 years of social deprivation in health, employment or education were meted by the regime.

Noting trends of arrests and hate speech against Christians, the report includes a list of recommendations. It urges reopening a Bible Society that was closed in 1990 and remains shuttered today.

The report also insists that an "unconditional release of Christians and other religious or belief minorities detained on charges related to their beliefs or activities" occur.

"Reopening of forcibly closed churches" and "clarity on where Persian-speaking Christians may worship freely in their mother tongue, free from fear of arrest and prosecution" is highlighted as well in 'Scapegoating' of Christians the focus of 2026 annual report.

Long before the current protests in Iran and even before the Islamic Revolution, Pastor Stewart and his wife witnessed changes that inspired them. "Christianity was beginning to take root. People were coming to church. People were having visions of Jesus. People wanted to have copies of the Bible," he recalled.

Today the Iranian church is composed of 99 percent Muslim converts. "I would call it a Great Awakening. When Christianity moves into an area, awakening is when the culture begins to wake up; revival is for the Church," he noted.

Stewart was the last pastor of Community Church of Tehran, Iran and a youth advisor for the Evangelical Church of Iran. He also founded and directed TALIM Ministries. Founder of SAT-7 PARS—a Christian satellite ministry—Stewart served as chairman of the board for 10 years.

He also founded and served as editor of Shaban Magazine, a leadership journal for Farsi-speaking pastors.

Stewart's book, No Stranger, capitalizes on the timeline of his years in Iran as a window into life, culture and church there, with observations from before and after the Islamic Revolution. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

Steve Rees: A member of The 700 Club, Steve Rees is also a Christian freelance journalist who previously worked as a news reporter for both weekly and daily newspapers.

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