Iranian Christians mourn lost opportunity for regime change

When Israel began bombing Iran on June 13, ordinary Iranians went to their rooftops to watch and celebrate. They had so much confidence that Israel would only target military sites, they didn’t bother going to their basements. Several Iranians I spoke to told me a significant majority in the country supported Israel’s campaign because they hoped it would be the beginning of the end of Iran’s repressive regime.

One woman we’re calling Leyla to protect her identity, said the Iranian people rejoiced together when the attacks “struck the head of the snake,” killing members of the regime. Those targeted included top military leaders Mohammad Bagheri and Hossein Salami and nuclear scientist Mohammad Medhi Tehranchi.

After 12 days of bombing raids that included a U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear sites, hopes for regime change grew. But on June 25, President Donald Trump abruptly announced a ceasefire, insisting key nuclear sites in Iran had been “obliterated” and hoping to end U.S. involvement in the conflict. Along with many other Iranians, Leyla was shocked and heartbroken.

“The truth is, we don’t want a ceasefire. We want Netanyahu to finish the job and stand firm against the mullahs,” Leyla said, referring to Israel’s prime minister.

That hope is gradually fading. Each day that passes allows Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to regather his strength. With his proxy armies of Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as allies in Yemen, severely crippled and the strikes on the U.S. air base in Qatar serving only as a token retaliation, his regime has lashed out at home. In the week after the U.S. strikes, 1,000 people were arrested and falsely accused of spying for Israel. Some were summarily executed. Many of those arrested are Christians, especially new converts. The regime has also gone after other ethnic and religious minorities, including Jews and Kurds. The Iranian parliament passed new restrictive laws to silence the people, and even a short phone call to a relative in Israel has become incriminating evidence for the government to use against its own citizens.

While talk of regime change makes Washington, D.C. politicians skittish, Iranians are clear about that being their end goal. But they say they need help from external forces to depose the mullahs, and they acknowledge that war is the awful and necessary price they are willing to pay for freedom for future generations.

“Nobody welcomes wars, but at this point, war seems to be the most viable solution,” said Sara, a 40-year-old woman from Isfahan. “The oppressed people of Iran have used every opportunity to free themselves of this terrorist group in control. Every peaceful protest is cracked down upon in the most brutal way. We hoped these conflicts would give us a chance to fight for freedom by having military forces eradicated by Israel, just like the Israeli prime minister promised us.”

In 2022, massive “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests erupted in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. Teheran’s morality police had arrested Amini for wearing her headscarf too loosely. Human rights experts determined Amini died because of severe beatings from police. Government reaction to the protests was deadly, with forces killing 1,500 protestors in one day. The government now uses surveillance cameras to identify women and girls breaking the hijab law.

While the crackdown stopped overt protests, opposition to the regime continues to simmer just below the surface. Iranians say opposition is ready to rise up once external forces, such as the Israeli military strikes, have sufficiently weakened the government. Many believe that time is now, and are frustrated that Israel and the United States stopped short of bringing the regime to its knees. And while skeptics say regime change might bring something worse, Iranians I spoke to are willing to take the risk.

They told me a majority in the country supports Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, son of the late Shah Mohammad Pahlavi, who was overthrown in the 1979 revolution. Reza Pahlavi, in exile since 1979, mostly in the United States, leads the National Council of Iran, an opposition group of Iranians in exile. Pahlavi says he has a plan for a transitional government, and on June 29, he said on X that he had opened a secure communications channel for “members of Iran’s armed forces, security personnel, and others seeking to break rank with the regime and join the Iranian people.” He’s spent the days since courting Western politicians on both sides of the Atlantic, urging them to seize the moment and support the Iranian people’s struggle for a “secular, democratic Iran.”

“What we truly want is freedom, dignity, and the revival of Persia. We want the Shah’s son,” Leyla said. “The Persian people are done with Islam and the Islamic regime. We have suffered enough under Shari’a law. People in the West need to realize that Islam, at its core, is a poisonous fruit of Satan. It has devastated civilizations, including ours.”

Iranian Christians say their country is a battlefield between good and evil, and ask Christians elsewhere to pray for their faith to remain strong. Gathering as believers is dangerous because Christian organizations are constantly under threat. Home churches are small, and many Christians are isolated in their faith. Many find fellowship only online. Because of that, it’s difficult to know how many Christians there are in Iran. Official statistics say 100,000, but those I spoke to say the number is likely much larger: anywhere from 500,000 to 2 million. That’s still a small minority in a country of 90 million people.

But Christians say the current situation presents a unique opportunity. The ruling Islamic theocracy has driven people away from Islam, and many people are searching for answers elsewhere: atheism, traditional Persian Zoroastrianism, New Age philosophies—but also the teachings of Jesus Christ.

“We’ve never had as much openness as we have now because of the situation that the Islamic Republic has created,” said a man I’ll call Armin. He asked Christians abroad to pray that Iranian Christians will have courage and be equipped to share the good news. “We’ve never before had the kind of media we now have to share the gospel so easily. This is a golden age, and a golden hour for the gospel in Iran.”

As for the ceasefire, they hope it won’t last. Arash Aria is an Iranian pastor currently living in a neighboring country and ministering to Iranian Christians via the internet. He said Trump should remember that the Iranian regime tried to assassinate him once, and given the chance, it will try again. “We are praying that the Lord Jesus Christ will remind Trump that he was kept alive for a mission—God’s will—for the freedom of Iran. Making deals with the clerics is turning one’s back on Christ and on the believers in Iran,” Arash said.

Sara warned the peace Trump seeks is not a value Iran’s current leaders share: “The U.S. president seems willing to go down in history as one who brought peace to the world. But if he doesn’t take drastic measures, this snake will turn into a beast that can’t be stopped.”