AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A new analytical report by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University reviews the long historical arc of Christianity in Iran, tracing the community’s presence from well before the advent of Islam to its contemporary standing. According to the report, Christians lived in Iranian lands for centuries prior to the Muslim conquest and played significant cultural and educational roles in cities such as Ctesiphon.
Following the Muslim conquest, Christians were recognized as Ahl al-Kitab and were allowed to preserve their faith, though they were required to pay taxes and observe certain social restrictions. Despite these constraints, Assyrian and Armenian communities continued to endure across different regions of Iran for centuries; during the Safavid dynasty, the Armenians of Julfa became one of the country’s most dynamic commercial and cultural groups.
The report notes that the Pahlavi period brought expanded social freedoms for Christians, who assumed meaningful roles in architecture, education, and urban culture. After the 1979 Revolution, Armenian and Assyrian communities were formally recognized in the Constitution, preserving their status as official religious minorities.
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