He said that since the video of his congregants’ arrests went viral, their family members in Iran have been questioned by national security services. Since the ceasefire with Israel, Iran has expanded its arrests of dissidents — disproportionately those from religious minorities — under the claim of rooting out Israeli spies.
In a statement to RNS last month, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said, “Any foreign citizen who fears persecution — including Iranians — are able to request asylum and have their claims adjudicated.”
Signs that pastor Ara Torosian displays in front of the White House, July 23, 2025, in Washington. (Photo by David Ian Klein)
The persecution of Christian communities in the Muslim world was a significant talking point for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and among Republican leaders. As Torosian’s congregants sit in detention, GOP lawmakers are pushing a resolution in the Senate to denounce the treatment of Christians in Muslim-majority countries.
“Our country was founded on religious liberty,” Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who introduced the resolution, said in a statement Monday. “We cannot sit on the sidelines as Christians around the world are being persecuted for declaring Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We must condemn these heinous crimes.”
The disconnect between such public claims and the actual treatment of Iranian Christian refugees has been deeply disappointing to Torosian and his community, he said.
“We feel trapped as Iranian refugee Christians,” Torosian said, holding a sign reading, “Mr. President: Iranian Christians believed you would protect them,” and “President Trump: Keep your promise to persecuted Christians.”
While Christian humanitarian organizations such as World Relief, which works with refugees worldwide, have supported Torosian and his community, other evangelical leaders have backed the Trump administration’s immigration policy.
“I have received big support from some Christian organizations, and other people, they don’t like me,” he said. “They believe that our people are illegal here. Some Christians have told me that I need to ‘go back to my country.’ I am a U.S. citizen. My children were born here.
“When you are calling yourself an evangelical church and Christian, you need to follow God’s word,” Torosian added. “I usually say to them, ‘Go read your Bible.’ … Jesus sat down with everybody — vulnerable people who were never loved by their community, prostitutes and other hated people. Jesus himself was a refugee.”
This article originally appeared here.
