Assyrians of Iran (PGID: PG024131)

The Assyrians of Iran

The Assyrians of Iran, numbering approximately 22,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Semitic people indigenous to northern Mesopotamia, speakers of Neo-Aramaic, claiming continuity with ancient Assyria, split across the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic, and Syriac Orthodox traditions, with a large modern diaspora. They mostly adhere to Chaldean Catholicism and Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Assyrian

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Assyrian
Primary Language(s): Assyrian Neo-Aramaic (aii)
Primary Religion(s): Chaldean Catholicism
Population: 22,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024131
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile

Submit Updates

Pray for the Assyrians of Iran

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: Chaldean Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

60%

Chaldean Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

80%

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic Speakers

Media Resources in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic:

Films:

Title	Link
JESUS	View Film
Magdalena	View Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Assyrian Neo-Aramaic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Assyrians:

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

Pray specifically for the Assyrians of Iran

Claiming to be wise, they became fools.
Romans 1:22

Ask God to pour out His mercy and bring those who are walking in their own wisdom to faith in Jesus.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
John 8:12

Pray that many will come to know Jesus, the light of the world, and have the light of life instead of walking in darkness.

For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Peter 2:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will proclaim the good news and the lost will recognize their need for the Shepherd and turn to Jesus Christ in faith.

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
2 Corinthians 3:16

Give thanks to God for believers around the world who are willing to cross cultures to share the gospel with those who are perishing. Pray that He will work through their witness to draw many to turn to Him.

Assyrian Across Countries (ROP3 - 100574) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

Engaged yet Unreached UUPG No Longer Unreached

CountryReligion

14 people groups

People Group ID	Name	Country	Population	Strategic Progress Index	Language ▼	Religion
PG011794	Assyrians	Kuwait	8,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Turoyo	Church of the East
PG000214	Assyrians	Germany	70,000	No Longer Unreached	Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Syriac Orthodox Christianity
PG000543	Assyrians	Sweden	146,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Syriac Orthodox Christianity
PG000613	Assyrians	United Kingdom	7,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Chaldean Catholicism
PG007833	Assyrians	Australia	40,000	No Longer Unreached	Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Church of the East
PG011701	Assyrians	Iraq	207,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Chaldean Catholicism
PG011733	Assyrians	Israel	850	Unengaged and Unreached	Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Church of the East
PG011812	Assyrians	Lebanon	31,500	Unengaged and Unreached	Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Syriac Orthodox Christianity
PG012181	Assyrians	Syria	50,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Syriac Orthodox Christianity
PG024131	Assyrians	Iran	22,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Chaldean Catholicism
PG024540	Assyrians	Turkiye	29,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Church of the East
PG042491	Assyrians	France	4,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Chaldean Catholicism
PG043355	Assyrians	Canada	11,500	No Longer Unreached	Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Chaldean Catholicism
PG043528	Assyrians	United States	70,000	No Longer Unreached	Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Chaldean Catholicism

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.

People Groups of the World

Countries of the World

Languages of the World

Religions of the World

Advanced Dashboard

What are People Groups?

Using Peoplegroups.org

People Group Research

Definitions and FAQs

About Us

Maps

Research Data

Resource Links