Iranian Christians who rely on satellite television to hear the gospel now face prosecution, after the country's Ministry of Intelligence classified several Persian-language Christian broadcasters as "hostile" organisations. The channels have been grouped alongside major opposition media outlets, with officials warning that any "cooperation" with them could be prosecuted under Iran's expanded espionage laws.

Evangelical networks Sat-7, Nejat, Seven and Mohabat TV are all on the list. 

For decades, Iran has restricted Christian ministry including closing churches, raiding house churches, confiscating Christian literature and arresting converts from Islam under broad national security charges. In this climate, Persian-language satellite channels have become a vital source of Bible teaching, worship and fellowship for believers with no church, no Christian community and often no other believers they know personally.

One Iranian Christian, told persecution charity Open Doors that many people in Iran hear the gospel for the first time through these programmes, and that they help isolated believers feel connected to "a much bigger body of believers".

The new directive doesn't just target broadcasters, it places ordinary viewers under suspicion too. At least five Christians have already been prosecuted under the new espionage laws, and dozens more were arrested last year on false accusations of links to foreign powers.

Despite the crackdown, the Church in Iran continues to grow. The country is home to one of the fastest-growing underground church movements in the world, believed to include hundreds of thousands of believers, most of which are converts from Islam, which is itself illegal to leave under Iranian law, and apostasy can carry the death penalty.

Open Doors and the US State Department's 2023 religious freedom report estimate there are between 500,000 and 800,000 Christian converts in the country.