The Last Family Has Left Iran's Oldest Protestant Church. The Bulldozers May Be Next.

St. Peter's Evangelical Church has stood in central Tehran since 1876. American Presbyterian missionaries built it on land granted by a Qajar king. For a century and a half, Armenian and Assyrian Christians worshiped there, ran two schools there, raised children there.

In July, the Islamic Republic moved to empty it.

Twenty families lived on the ten-acre compound. Most were poor. Many depended on the church to survive. At the end of June they were ordered to leave. Intelligence agents spent hours walking the grounds, telling residents they had come so the families could "become accustomed to our presence." Church leaders were warned they could face arrest if anyone refused.

By July 10, Article18 reported, several families had already left and the rest had received their final warning to go. What happens to the building now is the question no one in Tehran will answer.