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 Mandaeans of Iran

The Mandaeans of Iran, numbering approximately 11,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Iraq. They are an Indigenous people, in the Assyrian / Aramaic people cluster of the Arab World affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Other - Mandaeism. They primarily speak Persian, Iranian.

Mandaeans in Iran photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Suomen Mandean Yhdistys - Wikimedia Suomen Mandean Yhdistys - Wikimedia Licensed under CC BY 4.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: North Africa and Middle East Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Assyrian / Aramaic
Primary Language(s): Persian, Iranian (pes)
Primary Religion(s): Other - Mandaeism
Population: 11,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024188
View on Joshua Project

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Other - Mandaeism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Other - Mandaeism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Persian, Iranian
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Persian, Iranian Speakers

Media Resources in Persian, Iranian:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Persian, Iranian:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Persian, Iranian bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Mandaeans

The Mandaeans 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 Mandaeans

The Mandaeans 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 Mandaeans

The Mandaeans 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 Mandaeans of Iran

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
readJohn 3:14-15

Pray that the lost among them will look to the One lifted up on the cross, believing in Him and receiving eternal life.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
readActs 17:26-27

Pray that the lost will seek God and find Him, for He is not far from each one of us. Pray that they will have opportunities to access the gospel, learn God's purpose for their lives, and believe in Him.

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
readHebrews 10:32-33

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the day of their salvation and persevere in their faith despite hardships and suffering.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
readPsalm 51:2

Pray that God will raise up believers to go and share the gospel with those in this people group who need to be washed of their iniquity and cleansed from their sins.

Mandaean (ROP3 - 106221) 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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