For decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has tried to control faith. In Iran, religion is not merely spiritual; it is political power.

And yet, despite one of the most restrictive religious systems in the world, Christianity has quietly grown.

Not in public churches.
Not in official builadings.
But in living rooms, basements, and small apartments where believers gather behind closed doors.

To be a Christian in Iran is to live with the knowledge that your faith can cost you everything.

Artificial intelligence is giving governments and hostile actors the ability to identify, monitor and silence Christians in ways that are quieter, faster, and harder to expose. What once required vast manpower can now be done instantly, at scale and with precision that human surveillance could never match.

For two millennia, Christians in Gaza have borne witness to their faith with unyielding endurance and quiet courage. Today, fewer than one thousand remain, their survival hanging by a thread. After Hamas launched its brutal October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel — massacring civilians and taking hostages— the Israeli military responded with a massive campaign in Gaza. The war that followed has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Often ignored, Gaza’s Christians are an embattled minority caught in the crossfire of geopolitical conflict. Christians everywhere share a responsibility toward them. 

In recent months, the West has witnessed a troubling rise in anti-Christian violence, a trend we can no longer afford to ignore.

Attacks we once believed were isolated incidents overseas are now occurring frequently in our own neighborhoods, challenging America’s foundational identity of coexistence and religious freedom.

She was twenty-seven years old, kidnapped from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023. She didn’t survive. Her body was returned to Israel two years after she was taken. The last known female hostage held by Hamas.

“There wasn’t a moment when we weren’t abused,” said Aviva Siegel, one of the first women to be released. She was held for 51 days.