A church in Tehran has become the latest to close its doors to Farsi speakers.
St. Peter’s Evangelical Church in the Iranian capital is preventing speakers of the country’s official language from attending following pressure from government officials, reports Mohabat News.
Armenians and Assyrians will be permitted to attend the church, but the IDs of all congregants will be passed on to the government, Mohabat adds.
In May, the Central Assemblies of God church in Tehran was forced to cancel all services in the Farsi language or face permanent closure.
Following this, Mansour Borji, advocacy officer for human-rights group Article 18, said: “I am certain that the AOG church in Tehran will not be the last. If the Iranian government manages to close this church, the few remaining churches that have Farsi-speaking services will follow.”