The Mazanderani of Iran

The Mazanderani of Iran, numbering approximately 4,390,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Iranian ethnic group indigenous to the southern coast of the Caspian Sea in northern Iran, particularly Mazandaran Province, with communities also found in parts of Alborz, Golestan, Tehran, and Semnan provinces. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and Mazanderani is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Mazanderani

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Persian
Primary Language(s): Mazanderani (mzn)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 4,390,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024191
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Mazanderani 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mazanderani
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Mazandarani Speakers

Media Resources in Mazanderani:

Films:
TitleLink
MagdalenaView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Mazanderani:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Mazanderani bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Mazanderani 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 Mazanderani:
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 Mazanderani of Iran

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
readGenesis 3:15

Pray that those without Christ will hear the words of Genesis 1-3 in their own language, and desire to know their Creator and His provision of salvation.

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
readPsalm 57:10

Pray that God will work, even in the hearts of hard-to-reach people, and that they will rejoice in His steadfast love and faithfulness.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
readIsaiah 53:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will find comfort and spiritual healing as they remember the wounds of Christ, who understands their suffering because He also walked through suffering on their behalf.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Mazanderani Across Countries (ROP3 - 106450) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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.

Scroll to Top