As operation Epic Fury unleashes hell on Tehran, think of the civilians as missile strikes lay waste to a population larger than Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg combined.
Tehran
Tehran is a massive, high-altitude, and bustling metropolis of over 10 million people (17 million in the metro area), serving as Iran’s economic, cultural, and political heart. The city is beginning to look a lot like Kyiv. 
30% of the reported casualties in Tehran are children. The first 100 hours cost the US $10.7 billion. The same government cut $1 billion in American school lunch programs in 2025 affecting millions of children because support was “fiscally irresponsible.”
‘Nuff said.
Christians in Iran
I wondered how this “major combat operation” would affect the growing Christian population in Iran. So, I reached out to some trusted friends, including Wayne Hilsden in Jerusalem.
There is total agreement that the Islamic regime in Iran was brutal, killing hundreds of thousands of its citizens over four decades. There was particular attention paid to Iranian Christians, resulting in death, imprisonment and torture. According to one source only in 2024, 96 Christians were sentenced to a total of 263 years in prison. (Faceless Victims, Rights Violations against Christians in Iran, 2024.)
Approximately 50% of Iranian Christians live in Tehran, with other significant communities in Isfahan, Urmia, and Hamedan. Organizations like Operation World and Elam Ministries report that the underground church in Iran has an annual growth rate of nearly 20%, making it one of the fastest-growing in the world up until this operation. 
New Converts Despite The Risks
“It is hard to find reliable numbers, but educated estimates is that there are now between three hundred to five hundred thousand new converts to Christianity.” (The Hoover Institution, the nation’s preeminent research centre)
Despite the risks, Christianity was experiencing significant growth in Iran, with some estimates suggesting the church has grown from a few hundred in 1979 to around one million by 2026.
That is similar to the story of the Church in Iraq prior to the US invasion of 1991. Over one million Christians lived in Iraq. The overall effect of the US invasion intended to liberate Iraq? A massive, enduring demographic decline of Christianity and the rise of militant Islam. Will the effect on Iran be similar?
Stories from Iran
The Iranian branch of the Assemblies of God was once the largest Pentecostal denomination in the country before the government closed most of its official churches in the 1990s and 2000s. Estimates suggest most recent Iranian converts follow Pentecostal or Evangelical traditions.
Laleh, an Iranian Christian woman who has lived in exile for 10 years, described March 2, 2026 as deeply contradictory.
“Confusion, fear, anger, grief,” she said. “But also relief.”
She spoke of refugees who sold everything to flee. Families separated for decades. Friends who may never return home.
“We would have preferred justice in a courtroom,” she told me. “We wanted accountability.”
Even in death, wounds reopen. She described people feeling joy and rage in the same moment. Some feel hopeful. Others fear what instability might unleash. Many are anxious about what comes next.
And yet beneath it all, she described something quieter.
Anticipation.
A belief that one day Iranians may walk freely through their cities again. That they may show their country to their children without shame or fear.
Prayer
Farid, who was imprisoned and tortured because of his faith and involvement in evangelism, asked Christians to pray.
- Pray for those still in prison.
- Pray that the wall will fall, as the Berlin Wall once did.
- Pray that Iranians of every belief will one day live without fear.
What can ordinary Canadians like you and I do to make a difference?
Every morning Jocelyn and I answer a question of the day and write our responses in a journal. One question this week was, “What’s the thing you want most?” Jocelyn wrote, “World Peace.”
Her answer brought to mind a response that Mother Teresa gave to the question, what can you do to promote world peace? “Go home and love your family.”
What do you think? Please join the conversation and post a comment below. Thank you.
Hope grows here. We share stories that inspire people, build faith, and offer lasting purpose.
We’d love to have you Subscribe to REVwords. We’ll put helpful content into your inbox Mondays and Fridays.
