A new translation of the Bible into modern Persian, which was launched in London on Monday, marks a significant moment for Christianity in Iran.

According to a news release from Elam Ministries, the organization behind the translation, at the time of the Islamic revolution in 1979 there were no more than 500 Christians from a Muslim background in the country. Now Iran is thought to have one of the fastest-growing congregations in the world.

“A very conservative estimate puts the number of Christians in Iran at 100,000,” David Yeghnazar of Elam Ministries said in a press release.

“The generally-accepted estimate is 370,000. Some believe there are 700,000, some over a million. Operation World puts the annual growth rate at 19.7 per cent. If that is the case, Iran will very soon have one million Christian believers.”

“Though the [launch] event will be a joyful one, we are sad it is happening outside Iran,” Yeghnazar said.

“This event proves the world wide church will always bring the Scriptures to people, however ‘closed’ a country is meant to be. Rather than try and stop the inevitable -- especially in our digital age -- it would be much wiser if the Iranian government gave Christians the freedom promised in their constitution and let the Bible in Persian be printed legally inside Iran.”

(UCAnews)