Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Larestani of Iran

The Larestani of Iran, numbering approximately 131,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Iran They are an Indigenous people, in the Persian people cluster of the Persian-Median Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Shia. They primarily speak Lari.

Larestani in Iran photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Ninara - Flickr Ninara - Flickr Licensed under CC BY 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Persian
Primary Language(s): Lari (lrl)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Shia
Population: 131,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024183
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Larestani of Iran

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Shia
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Shia Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lari
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Lari Speakers

Media Resources in Lari:

Films:

No entries found for: Lari(lrl). Help build some!

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lari:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lari bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Larestani

The Larestani are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Larestani

The Larestani are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Next steps for the Larestani

The Larestani are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Larestani of Iran

For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
readPsalm 97:9

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will recognize the Lord as the Most High and turn from spiritual darkness to worship Him above all else.

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
readLuke 5:27-28

Prat that God will prepare many hearts to meet Him when He says, “Follow Me!” and that they will respond in faith, leaving everything behind to follow Him.

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
read2 Corinthians 9:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the principle of sowing and reaping, and be generous in their giving and serving, knowing that they will reap a generous harvest.

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”
readActs 17:32

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures wisdom and discernment as they engage in spiritual conversations with those who are curious about the gospel.

Larestani (ROP3 - 105652) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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