17M viewers watch Christian TV in Iran during crackdown

By Abdul Masih —

This is the real war, the spiritual one, the one traditional media ignores as if it were irrelevant. Iranians were forced to stay home under martial law curfew. They were desperate. They knew Islam doesn’t have the answer. They looked elsewhere.

On Jan. 19, a record 17M turned to Christian satellite T.V. — 25% of Iran‘s entire population, says Ed Saleh, director of ICNET TV based in Canada.

“The government declared martial law, which means after 6:00 p.m. people cannot go out into the street. So what do they do at home? They have nothing else to do but to watch satellite,” Saleh says on 100huntley. “Our viewership spiked from 5 million a day to an average of 10 million a day.

“And last Monday, we even peaked at 17 million people in one day, which is 25% of the entire population of Iran,” he adds.

This is the untold story of Iran’s Counter Revolution. First they stopped attending mosque to the point that a reported 2/3 of them had to close for lack of congregation. Then the burning down mosques in the last month of uprising.

Mosques are hated in Iran because they are the philosophical/religious backing of the hated regime. In them, the hated hijab is preached. Vulnerable young men are recruited and trained to form the Basij paramilitary unit that suppresses crowds with violence. Mosques are used as a headquarters for the Basij.

So Iranians have been burning them down. Iran International cited a Tehran official who said 61 mosques were burned down in the capitol city alone. Nationwide, unverified reports say some 200 mosques have been torched.

According to census data, Iran is 99% Muslim. LOL. The census data basically says, “If you’re born in Iran, therefore you are Muslim.” Wikipedia dutifully falls in line.

Independent surveys indicate that vast proportions of Iranians have left the faith in their heart. (To leave the faith publicly is dangerous; it is punishable by death penalty.)

According to those surveys, Christianity is NOT the leading repository for all those former Muslims. Atheism is. According to 2022 GAMAAN online survey, 31% identified either “no religion” or atheism.

But reports of revival seeping out hint that Christianity is making steady gains.

Saleh is one more peak into the hearts of the Iranians. Missionologists characterize the Iranian church as the fastest-growing in the world (rivaled by revival in China and other countries where persecution has the opposite of the desired effect).

Saleh got his start working with 100 Huntley Street, Canada’s longest-running daily Christian television show founded by David Mainse.

The story goes that Mainse took refuge from a sudden rain one day in a prosperous Persian rug store in Toronto. The owner, a regular Mainse viewer, recognized him and approached him with the idea of reaching the Iranian diaspora in Canada.

Mainse bought in.

“For three years, we produced more than 150 programs in Farsi language,” Ed says. “My father, Pastor Fred Saleh, was the speaker and it was an extremely blessed ministry in Vancouver, Montreal and in Toronto.”

Ed took over at some point. Now he says Christians should pray for the Counter Revolution — and the Spirit’s move in Iran.

Related coverage of Iran: What’s going on in the streets of Iran? Here comes Nuremberg Trials, No Appeaser in Chief, Leftist go MIA on support of the Iranian people, here comes the cavalry charge.