Assyrians in Iran
ܣܘܪ̈ܝܐ ܕܐܝܼܪܵܢ
آشوریان ایران
Iranian Assyrians from Urmia, Iran
Total population
20,000-55,000[1][2]
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Neo-Aramaic and Persian
Religion
Syriac Christianity

Assyrians in Iran (Syriac: ܣܘܪ̈ܝܐ ܕܐܝܼܪܵܢ; Persian: آشوریان ایران), or Iranian Assyrians, are an ethnic and linguistic minority in present-day Iran. The Assyrians of Iran speak Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, a neo-Aramaic language descended from the eastern dialects of the old Aramaic language with elements of Akkadian, and are Eastern Rite Christians belonging mostly to the Assyrian Church of the East and also to the Ancient Church of the East, Assyrian Pentecostal Church, Chaldean Catholic Church and Assyrian Evangelical Church.[3]

They share a common history and ethnic identity, rooted in shared linguistic, cultural and religious traditions, with Assyrians in Iraq, Assyrians in Turkey and Assyrians in Syria, as well as with the Assyrian diaspora.[3]

The Assyrian community in Iran numbered approximately 200,000 prior to the Islamic Revolution of 1979.[4] In 1987, there were an estimated 50,000 Assyrians living in Tehran.[5] However, after the revolution many Assyrians left the country, primarily for the United States; the 1996 Iranian census counted only 32,000 Assyrians.[6] Current estimates of the Assyrian population in Iran consist of 7,000 combined members of the Assyrian Church of the East and Chaldean Catholic Church in addition to less than 10,000 members of the Assyrian Evangelical Church.[7]

The Iranian capital, Tehran, is home to the majority of Iranian Assyrians; however, approximately 15,000 Assyrians reside in northern Iran, in Urmia and various Assyrian villages in the surrounding area.[3] To note among the Assyrian diaspora, the Assyrians residing in California and Russia tend to be originally from Iran.[8]

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, ratified in 1979, recognizes Assyrians as a religious minority and ethnic minority and reserves for them one seat in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Iranian parliament.[9] As of 2004, the seat was occupied by Yonathan Betkolia, who was elected in 2000 and reelected in the 2004 legislative election.

In 2010, it was estimated that there were only around 5,000 Assyrians left in the historical center of the city of Urmia.[10]

History

The Assyrian presence in Iran goes back 4,000 years to ancient times, and Assyria was involved in the history of Ancient Iran even before the arrival of the modern Iranian peoples to the region circa 1000 BC. During the Old Assyrian Empire (c.2025-1750 BC) and Middle Assyrian Empire (1365-1020 BC) the Assyrians ruled over parts of Pre-Iranic northern and western Iran. The Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-605 BC) saw Assyria conquer the Iranic Persians, Medes and Parthians into their empire, together with the ancient pre-Iranic Elamites, Kassites, Manneans and Gutians, and also the Iranic Cimmerians of Asia Minor and Scythians of the Caucasus.[11] The home of the Assyrians in Iran has traditionally been along the western shore of Lake Urmia from the Salmas area to the Urmia plain.[12]

After the fall of Assyria between 612 and 599 BC, after decades of civil war, followed by an attack by an alliance of former subject peoples; the Medes, Persians, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Scythians and Cimmerians, its people became an integral part of the Achaemenid Empire (as did Assyria itself), holding important military, civic and economic positions, and the Achaemenid Persians, having spent centuries under Assyrian domination, were greatly influenced by Assyrian Art and Architecture, modelled their empire upon Assyrian lines, and saw themselves as the successors of the great Assyrian kings. Assyrians are still attested as being extant in the north west of the region during the Parthian Empire (160 BC-223 AD) and Sassanid Empire (224-650 AD), and throughout the Middle Ages, where the Bukhtishu family of physicians were held in great regard by the Persian kings.

There were about 200,000 Assyrians in Iran at the time of the 1976 census.[12] Many emigrated after the revolution in 1979, but at least 50,000 were estimated to be still in Iran in 1987.

In 1900, Assyrians numbered over 76,000 in northwestern Iran, constituting over a quarter of the Azerbaijan province's population and were the largest non-Muslim majority in Urmia. Of the 300 villages around Urmia, 60 were exclusively Assyrians and 60 were mixed villages with Assyrian, Armenian, and Azeri communities. Nevertheless, there were over 115 documented Assyrian villages to the west of Lake Urmia prior to 1918.[11]

During the Assyrian genocide, which took place during World War I, the Ottoman Army together with allied Kurdish and Arab militias along the Persian-Turkish and Persian-Iraqi border carried out religiously and ethnically motivated massacres and deportations on unarmed Assyrian civilians (and Armenians) both in the mountains and on the rich plains, resulting in the death of at least 300,000 Assyrians.[13] This genocide that started in 1914 was said to be started with the Ottomans’ ‘Jihad’ declaration, apparently solely based on its ethnic and religious differences with the Assyrians because of their belief in Christianity, but actually there was an ambition to extend their ‘holy war’ beyond Assyrian territories to spread its Ottoman influences.[14]

The Ottomans already implemented massacres of several Assyrian tribes from 1843 to 1845, with the motive of taking over their ancestral lands and making them part of the Ottoman Empire. These tribes were particularly the Tiyari, Tkhuma, Jilu and Baz, who all refused Ottoman command. According to British councils, 10,000 Assyrians were massacred already during this time alone. Women and children were taken while Assyrian leaders were cast out from Ottoman forces. Assyrians felt forced to convert to for example Catholicism or Russian Orthodoxy to receive help from the Russian, French or British.[14]

In 1914 alone, they attacked dozens of villages and drove off all the inhabitants of the district of Gawar. The Assyrians defended themselves and for a time successfully repelled further attacks under the leadership of Agha Petros, seizing control of much of the Urmia region and defeating Ottoman forces and their Kurdish and Arab allies in the process. However, lack of ammunition and supplies, due mainly to the withdrawal of Russia from the war, and the collapse of allied Armenian forces led to their downfall. Massively outnumbered, surrounded, undersupplied and cut off, the Assyrians suffered terrible massacres. These included Assyrian deportations close to the Ottoman-Persian border in January 1915, as well as the invasion of several Assyrian tribes located in the Hakkari mountains. This area already suffered numerous massacres in the 1840s.[14]

By the summer of 1918 almost all surviving Assyrians had fled to Tehran or to existing Assyrian communities or refugee camps in Iraq such as Baqubah. Local Kurds and Arabs and took the opportunity of the last phases of World War I to rob Assyrian homes, murder civilians and leave those remaining destitute. The critical murder that sowed panic in the Assyrian community came when Kurdish militias, under Agha Ismail Simko, assassinated the Patriarch, Shimun XIX Benyamin, on March 3, 1918, under the pretext of inviting him to negotiations, although the Assyrian leader Malik Khoshaba exacted revenge upon Simko by attacking and sacking his citadel, forcing the Kurdish leader to flee for his life.[12]

Religious communities

Most Assyrians in Iran are followers of the Assyrian Church of the East, with a minority of 3,900 following the Chaldean Catholic Church.[15] Some also follow Protestant denominations such as the Assyrian Evangelical Church, Assyrian Pentecostal Church and possibly Russian Orthodoxy due to a Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Urmia during the 1900s.

Distribution

Churches

Urmia

Church Location Date Denomination Location Photo
Old Mart Maryam (St. Mary)[17] Urmia Early Christianity ACOE/ROC 🌐
New Mart Maryam (St. Mary) Urmia 1964 ACOE 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary)[18] Urmia 1885/1954 CCC 🌐
Assyrian Evangelical Church, Urmia Urmia 1961 AEC 🌐
Mar Kuriakus (St. Cyriacus)[19][20] Urmia 5th c. ACOE 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary)[21][22] Charbakhsh(fa), Urmia 7th c./1905 ACOE 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary)[23][24] Digala(fa), Urmia 19th c. ACOE 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Sangar Borzu-Khan, Urmia 1922/1993 ACOE 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Alvach 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary)[25] Janvislu 🌐
Mar Sargis-Bacchus (Sts. Sergius and Bacchus)[26] Seir 7th c. ACOE 🌐
Mar Addai (St. Thaddeus) Alqian 15th c. 🌐
Mar Gabriel (Holy Gabriel)[27] Ordushahi 1863 CCC 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary) Ordushahi 🌐
Mar Sargis (St. Sergius) Takyeh ACOE 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Takyeh 🌐
Mar T'oma (St. Thomas)[28] Babarud ACOE 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Babarud CCC 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Qurt Tappeh 1889 ACOE 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Chehreh Gosha 19th c./2001 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary)[29] Gok Tepe 🌐
Mar Zayya (St. Zayya) Gok Tepe 16th c./1889/1957 ACOE 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) (fa)[30] Gulpashan 1869 CCC 🌐
Mar Sehyon (Holy Zion) Gulpashan ACOE 🌐
Mar Petros-Polos (Sts. Peter and Paul)[31] Kelisakandi 8th c. CCC 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George)[32][33] Reyhanabad 1914 ACOE 🌐
Mar Abdishu (Odishu) (St. Abdishu) Tarmani 1929 ACOE 🌐
Mar Qardagh (St. Qardagh) Tarmani 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Vazirabad 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Yaghmur Ali 20th c. 🌐
Rabban Mar Hormizd (St. Hormizd) Dizaj-e Takyeh 9th c. ACOE 🌐
Mar Shalita (St. Artemius) Dizaj-e Takyeh ACOE 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Saatlu 18th c./1971 🌐
Mar Yukhana (St. John) Saatlu 🌐
Mart Shmoni (St. Solomonia) Shams-e Hajjian 🌐
Mar Sargis (St. Sergius) Kukia 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Mahmudabad 🌐
Mar Shalita (St. Artemius) near Mahmudabad 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary) Nivlu 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Tazekand 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary)[34] Anhar 1885 ACOE 🌐
Mar Shalita (St. Artemius) Qezel Asheq 1967 ACOE 🌐
Mar Gabriel (Gavra) (Holy Gabriel) Zeynalu ACOE 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary) Faqibeyglu 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Faqibeyglu 🌐
Mart Khanna (St. Anne) (fa)[35] Jamalabad ACOE 🌐
Mar Yukhana (St. John)[36] near Gavelan 5th c. ACOE 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary) Gavelan 1952 CCC 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Gavelan 19th c. AEC 🌐
Mar Daniel (Prophet Daniel) Adeh 5th c. ACOE 🌐
Mar Yukhana (St. John) (fa)[37][38] Adeh 1901 ACOE 🌐
Mar Yusep (St. Joseph) Adeh 19th c. CCC 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary)[39] Chamaki 1870 ACOE 🌐
Mar Savrishu (St. Sabrisho)[40] Mushabad 1880/1914 ACOE 🌐
Mar Nukha (Prophet Noah) near Mushabad ACOE 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) (fa)[41][42] Sopurghan 1873 ACOE 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary) Yengejeh 🌐
Mar Gabriel (Gavra) (Holy Gabriel)[43] Armudaghaj ACOE 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Janizeh 19th c. ACOE 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary) Kavsi 1909 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary) Nazlu 19th c./2022 🌐
Mar Behishu (St. Paisius) Qaleh Esmail Aqa 1965 ACOE 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Abdollahkandi, near Taltava 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Ikiaghaj, near Qelinjlu 🌐
Mar Shalita (St. Artemius)[44] Shirabad 🌐
Mar Aprim (St. Ephrem) Zonbalan 1880/2005 🌐
Mar Toma (St. Thomas)[45][46] Balowlan 5th/7th c./1987 ACOE 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) Haki 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary) (fa)[47] Mavana 1879 CCC 🌐
Rabban Mar Hormizd (St. Hormizd) Dazgir 🌐

Salmas

Church Location Date Denomination Location Photo
Mar Kuriakus (St. Cyriacus) (fa) Kohneh Shahr 12th c. ACOE 🌐
Vank (fa) Khosrowabad 5th c. ACOE 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George) (fa) Khosrowabad 11th/13th c. CCC 🌐
Mar Yukhana (St. John) Patavir ACOE 🌐
Mar Yaghou (St. James) Patavir 1966 CCC 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary) Savra 🌐

Other Cities

Church Location Date Denomination Location Photo
Khark Assyrian Monastery (fa)[48][49][50] Khark Island 5th c. 🌐
Mar Gevargis (St. George)[51] Tehran 1961 ACOE 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary) Tehran 1978 ACOE 🌐
Mar Yusep (St. Joseph)[52][53] Tehran 1950 CCC 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary)[54] Tehran 1951 CCC 🌐
Mar T'oma (St. Thomas)[55] Tehran 1967 AEC 🌐
Mar T'oma (St. Thomas)(fa)[56] Tehran 1959 APC 🌐
Fardis 2011 ACOE 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary) (fa) Senneh 19th c. CCC 🌐
Assyrian Evangelical Church, Tabriz[57] Tabriz 1957 AEC 🌐
Assyrian Pentecostal Church, Kermanshah Kermanshah 1955 APC 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary) (fa) Qazvin 1915 CCC 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary) (fa)[58] Hamadan 19th c. CCC 🌐
Mar Shimeon (St. Simeon)[59][60] Ahwaz 1964 CCC 🌐
Mart Maryam (St. Mary) demolished in 2007 (fa)[61] Andimeshk 1954 CCC 🌐

Famous Assyrians from Iran

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Iran". U.S. Department of State 2018 Report on International Religious Freedom: Iran.
  2. ^ "Woman demeans Christian Assyrian-American as 'Terrorist' for Speaking Jesus' Language". Informed Comment. 2016-11-19. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  3. ^ a b c Hooglund (2008), pp. 100-101. sfnp error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFHooglund2008 (help)
  4. ^ "Iran: Assyrian Policy Institute". Assyrian Policy Institute. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  5. ^ "ASSYRIANS IN IRAN i. The Assyrian community ( - Encyclopaedia Iranica". www.iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  6. ^ Hooglund (2008), pp. 100-101, 295. sfnp error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFHooglund2008 (help)
  7. ^ "Iran". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  8. ^ Nisan, Mordechai (2015). Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle and Self-Expression, 2d ed. McFarland. p. 191. ISBN 9780786451333.
  9. ^ Hooglund (2008), pp. 128-129. sfnp error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFHooglund2008 (help)
  10. ^ Nicholas al-Jeloo, Evidence in Stone and Wood: The Assyrian/Syriac History and Heritage of the Urmia Region in Iran. Parole de l'Orient 35 (2010), pp. 1-15.
  11. ^ a b "Settling Into Diaspora: A History of Urmia Assyrians in the United States" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-01-04. Retrieved 2015-01-07.
  12. ^ a b c Iran A Country Study By Federal Research Division - Page 128
  13. ^ David Gaunt, "The Assyrian Genocide of 1915", Assyrian Genocide Research Center, 2009
  14. ^ a b c Travis, Hannibal (2011). "The Assyrian Genocide, a Tale of Oblivion and Denial". Forgotten Genocides: Oblivion, Denial and Memory. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 125.
  15. ^ As of 2014, when combining the populations of all the Iranian diocese together, there are 3,900 followers http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/rite/dch2.html
  16. ^ Yonan, Gabriele. "Assyrer_heute_Kultur_Sprache_Nationalbew". Academia.edu (in German).
  17. ^ "Saint Mary Church (Naneh Maryam)". churchesinthemiddleeast.site. Retrieved 2026-10-08.
  18. ^ "Cathedral of St. Mary the Mother of God, Urmia, Iran". gcatholic.org. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
  19. ^ "کلیساى مارقوریاقوس". urmiatabligh.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
  20. ^ "کلیسای مار قوریاقوس". pinterest.com. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
  21. ^ "کلیسای حضرت مریم". tebyan.net. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
  22. ^ "Mata d'Charbash, Urmia (Iran)". hagyana-atouraya.com. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
  23. ^ "دیگاله". digale.blogfa.com. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
  24. ^ "ثبت ملی كلیساهای مارگورگیز و ننه مریم دیگاله ارومیه". www.irib-news.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
  25. ^ "یکی از کوچکترین کلیسای جهان در ارومیه". www.tasnimnews.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
  26. ^ "Maar-Sargiz Historical Church". itto.org. Retrieved 2026-10-08.
  27. ^ "کلیسای مارگاربریل اردوشاهی ارومیه". www.academia.edu. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  28. ^ "تصاویری از چند کلیسای ارومیه". adyannews.com. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  29. ^ "پروژه مرمت و احیای کلیسای گوی تپه ارومیه". bankarc.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
  30. ^ "کلیسای مارگیورکیس(گلپاشین)". iranpedia.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  31. ^ "کلیسای پطروس پولس ارومیه". www.eneshat.com. Retrieved 2026-10-08.
  32. ^ "کلیسای گورگیس ارومیه، یادگاری به جا مانده از دوران زندیه". www.chtn.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
  33. ^ "بازگشایی قدیمی‌ترین کلیسای روستای ریحان آباد ارومیه". www.mizanonline.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
  34. ^ "دستگیری حفاران محدوده کلیسای تاریخی انهر ارومیه". www.kurdpress.com. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  35. ^ "کلیسای مارخنه". urmiatabligh.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  36. ^ "کلیسای ماریوحنا (ماریوخنه)". parstoday.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-08.
  37. ^ "کلیسای آده ارومیه، یادگاری از دوران قاجار". www.chtn.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  38. ^ "با کلیسای آشوری «آده» در ارومیه آشنا شوید". ashnaie.com. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  39. ^ "ثبت ملی كلیسا چمكی ارومیه". www.barishnews.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  40. ^ "مراسم تقدیس کلیسای مارسورشیو". www.mehrnews.com. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  41. ^ "Saint George Church, Spurghan". churchesinthemiddleeast.site. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  42. ^ "بررسی قوس گهواره ای محراب در کلیسای مارگورگیس روستای سپورغان تلفیق معماری بومی ایران و سنت ارتدوکسی". churchesinthemiddleeast.html. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  43. ^ "حفاری غیرمجاز در محدوده یک کلیسای تاریخی در روستای آرمود آغاج". www.yjc.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  44. ^ "مستندنگاری و تحلیل معماری سازه ای کلیسای شرق آشوری مارشالیتا در روستای شیرآباد ارومیه". civilica.com. Retrieved 2026-10-22.
  45. ^ "کلیسای مارتوما (بالولان)". iranpedia.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-08.
  46. ^ "Saint Thomas Church, Balolan". churchesinthemiddleeast.site. Retrieved 2026-10-08.
  47. ^ "Church of the Virgin Mary, Mawana". churchesinthemiddleeast.site. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  48. ^ "The Christian Monastery on the Island of Kharg" (PDF). biblicalarchaeology.gospelstudies.org.uk. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  49. ^ "کلیسای خارک". www.tebyan.net. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  50. ^ "کلیسای نسطوری جزیره خارگ پاکسازی شد". www.yjc.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  51. ^ "کلیسای آشوری مارگیوگیز تهران". boomilia.com. Retrieved 2026-10-25.
  52. ^ "Cathedral of St. Joseph, Tehran, Iran". gcatholic.org. Retrieved 2026-10-25.
  53. ^ "کلیسا سنت جوزف؛ کلیسای آشوریان تهران". pvtour.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-25.
  54. ^ "کلیسا در خیابان محبوب مجاز". avval.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-25.
  55. ^ "کلیسای توما ( کلیسای انجیلی آشوریان تهران)". boomilia.com. Retrieved 2026-10-25.
  56. ^ "کلیسا در خیابان شهرآرا". avval.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-25.
  57. ^ "کلیسای پروتستان (انجیلی) تبریز". www.beytoote.com. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  58. ^ "آشوریان ، جامعه ای کوچک و آرام در همدان". www.irna.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  59. ^ "گزارشی از کلیسای مسیحیان کلدانی_ آشوری کاتولیک اهواز". www.ilna.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-25.
  60. ^ "کلیسای مسیحیان کلدانی آشوری کاتولیک اهواز". www.chtn.ir. Retrieved 2026-10-25.
  61. ^ "اقدام بی سابقه شورای خلیفه گری کاتولیک ها در ایران/فروش کلیساهای خوزستان برای تخریب". www.magiran.com. Retrieved 2026-10-25.

References

Bibliography

  • Eden Naby, “The Assyrians of Iran: Reunification of a ‘Millat,’ 1906-1914" International Journal of Middle East Studies, 8. (1977) pp. 237-249
  • Eden Naby, “The Iranian Frontier Nationalities: The Kurds, the Assyrians, the Baluch and the Turkmens,”Soviet Asian Ethnic Frontiers, ed.by McCagg and Silver (New York, Pergamon Press, 1979).
  • Eden Naby, “Christian Assyrian Architecture of Iran,” News - Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions (Spring 1998) vol. 5, no. 2, p. 7, 10.
  • Eden Naby, "Ishtar: Documenting the Crisis in the Assyrian Iranian Community," MERIA 10/4 (2006)https://web.archive.org/web/20090124055153/http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2006/issue4/Naby.pdf