The Trump administration commendably made Christian persecution in the Middle East a priority. Vice President Mike Pence is a chief advocate in the administration, and Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour Robert Destro has spent a large bulk of his career defending international religious freedom. Now the administration and Congress should emphasize persecution of Christians in Iran because Iran is the new battleground for Christians’ religious rights. When one thinks of persecution of Christians in the Middle East, the Islamic State’s killing of Syrian and Iraqi Christians comes to mind. But Iran, not Syria, has the largest Christian population enduring government persecution.
Speaking of faith and Iran, most people think of Islam. Yet Islam is the fastest shrinking religion there, while Christianity is growing the fastest. According to a report by the Department of State from 2018, up to half a million Iranians are Christian converts from Muslim families, and most of these Christians are evangelicals. Recent estimates claim that the number might have climbed up to somewhere between one million and three million. This is up from 100,000 in 1994, and a majority of these converts are reportedly women. A recent documentary, Sheep among Wolves, documents the lives of these converts and shows how Iran is the “fastest-growing church” in the world.