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
Portuguese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Español | Tagalog / Filipino
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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
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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!
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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:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView 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

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
readRomans 1:19

Pray that God will use testimony of creation to cause those who do not yet know the gospel to long for truth and a relationship with the Author of life.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
readMark 4:20

Pray that those who have never encountered the gospel will have the opportunity to receive it, and that it will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
readPsalm 3:5-6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and experience isolation or other persecution, God will sustain them and give them confidence and rest in Him.

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
readIsaiah 58:7

As believers cross cultures to share the good news of Christ, pray that God will sustain them and grow their faith as He gives them the compassion necessary to minister well to those in need.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

14 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
AssyriansPG043528AssyriansUnited States70,000No Longer UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
AssyriansPG043355AssyriansCanada11,500No Longer UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
AssyriansPG042491AssyriansFrance4,000Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
AssyriansPG024540AssyriansTurkiye29,000Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChurch of the East
AssyriansPG024131AssyriansIran22,000Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
AssyriansPG012181AssyriansSyria50,500Engaged yet UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicSyriac Orthodox Christianity
AssyriansPG011812AssyriansLebanon31,500Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicSyriac Orthodox Christianity
AssyriansPG011794AssyriansKuwait8,500Engaged yet UnreachedTuroyoChurch of the East
AssyriansPG011733AssyriansIsrael850Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChurch of the East
AssyriansPG011701AssyriansIraq207,000Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
AssyriansPG007833AssyriansAustralia40,000No Longer UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChurch of the East
AssyriansPG000613AssyriansUnited Kingdom7,000Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
AssyriansPG000543AssyriansSweden146,000Unengaged and UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicSyriac Orthodox Christianity
AssyriansPG000214AssyriansGermany70,000No Longer UnreachedAssyrian Neo-AramaicSyriac Orthodox Christianity

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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