Digital Articles

A lecture given to the Iran Society by Michael Zirinsky, Boise State University, on 4 March 2024.

“First exploration of the American Mission in Iran began in 1829, toward the end of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar's reign, and a first station was established in Urmia in 1834.  The last missionaries left Iran in 1980, in the aftermath of the overthrow of Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi. Given the enmity which has existed between the governments of Iran and America since then, it is difficult to recall the positive view of America which these Presbyterian missionaries once engendered.”