All the country’s TV stations are operated by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), and nearly all the newspapers are either conservative or hardline. Hence, the only narrative Iranians hear from the official media is the government narrative.  

In this narrative, Iran is inflicting significant damage on its enemies in the current war and will soon be victorious. And regarding the protests of early 2026, the government’s position is that legitimate peaceful protests were hijacked by Mossad (Israel’s intelligence) agents and turned into “urban warfare”, where Qur’ans were burned, and mosques torched. Their reports limit the number of deaths to about 3,000. They claim that the reports of tens of thousands of casualties are false statistics pumped out by Iran’s enemies to justify military intervention.  

The government narrative has always been threatening for Christian converts. The house churches are presented as a deviant and subversive group whose loyalty lies with the West. This narrative is extremely dangerous. Already, the official media wrongly calls the house church Christians “Zionist.” There is a grave possibility that Christians could be executed as enemies of the state.