Persians of United Arab Emirates (PGID: PG012247)

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Persians of United Arab Emirates

The Persians of United Arab Emirates, numbering approximately 556,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a complex Iranian community shaped by a rich history, multifaceted blend of ancient traditions, cultural heritage, modern influences, Islamic values, and a strong sense of national pride and resilience They are an Diaspora people, with Persian as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Persian people cluster of the Persian-Median Peoples. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and Iranian Persian is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Persian

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: United Arab Emirates
People Cluster: Persian
Primary Language(s): Iranian Persian (pes)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 556,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012247
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Pray for the Persians of United Arab Emirates

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

95%

Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Iranian Persian
Language Family: Indo-European

100%

Persian, Iranian Speakers

Media Resources in Iranian Persian:

Films:

Title	Link
JESUS	View Film
Magdalena	View Film
The Savior	View Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Iranian Persian:

Bible Name (Translation)	Video	Audio	Text
New Millenium Version 2009		✓
New Millenium Version 2014	✓		✓
Today's Persian Version		✓	✓

3 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Iranian Persian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Persians 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.

Next steps for the Persians:

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

Pray specifically for the Persians of United Arab Emirates

But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven"
Matthew 9:14

Pray that those who are spiritually dead will recognize their need for spiritual nourishment and turn to the One who offers true fulfillment.

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed"
Galatians 3:8

Ask the Lord to fulfill His promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed by advancing the gospel to every people group who has yet to receive it.

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
Matthew 18:19

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they find other believers to pray with, and that they will trust God to answer their requests according to His will.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
Psalm 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.

Persian Across Countries (ROP3 - 107987) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

Engaged yet Unreached UUPG No Longer Unreached

CountryReligion

30 people groups

People Group ID	Name	Country	Population ▼	Strategic Progress Index	Language	Religion
PG024197	Persians	Iran	29,500,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG012247	Persians	United Arab Emirates	556,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG011719	Persians	Iraq	511,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG043278	Persians	United States	466,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG011904	Persians	Qatar	276,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG011304	Persians	Bahrain	225,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG043458	Persians	Canada	202,000	No Longer Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG000259	Persians	Germany	175,000	No Longer Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG024581	Persians	Turkiye	130,000	No Longer Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG024002	Persians	Afghanistan	117,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG000643	Persians	United Kingdom	86,000	No Longer Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG020262	Persians	Australia	84,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG042479	Persians	France	65,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG011804	Persians	Kuwait	50,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG022255	Persians	Netherlands	36,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG024309	Persians	Uzbekistan	34,500	Unengaged and Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG049321	Persians	Malaysia	21,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG011886	Persians	Oman	16,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG000091	Persians	Denmark	15,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG000034	Persians	Austria	15,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG006390	Persians	Pakistan	13,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG043167	Persians	Belgium	12,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG042331	Persians	Italy	11,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG012193	Persians	Syria	10,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG050238	Persians	Indonesia	8,000	No Longer Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG050098	Persians	Armenia	7,800	No Longer Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG009630	Persians	New Zealand	7,400	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG050237	Persians	South Korea	3,500	No Longer Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG047071	Persians	Greece	2,400	No Longer Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam
PG024081	Persians	Azerbaijan	1,400	Engaged yet Unreached	Iranian Persian	Shia Islam

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 Data Standards section.

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