The Russian Embassy in Tehran has issued an angry denunciation of Wednesday US-Israeli airstrikes which damaged a Russian Orthodox Church and an adjacent nursing home.
“Two missile strikes on the morning of April 1st in the immediate vicinity of St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Tehran caused damage to the main building and outbuildings (windows and doors were blown out),” the Russian Embassy said in a statement which featured some photos of the damage.
On April 1, two strikes were conducted near the Saint-Nicholas Orthodox Church in Tehran.
Main building, almshouse and several technical facilities were damaged. No victims 🙏🏻
Statement by the Embassy: https://t.co/zg8QABxkOp pic.twitter.com/eMztNvy7Cu
— Russian Embassy in Iran (@rusembiran) April 1, 2026
Not only the main church complex, but an “almshouse” also suffered damage, according to the official statement. As US-based pro-Iranian opposition NGO also confirmed the strike.
The embassy statement further underscored that the tragedy happened during a sacred week of the Christian calendar.
“We note that St. Nicholas Cathedral was damaged during Great Lent and ahead of one of the main religious holidays, Easter. Due to the military recklessness of the United States and Israel, the Orthodox community in Iran is unable to visit the church,” the diplomatic mission wrote on Telegram.
“The adjacent Russian Nursing Home, where elderly residents still live, also sustained significant damage (including a collapsed roof). Thankfully, there were no casualties,” it added.
There has been a significant Russian emigre community in Tehran – with a church there – going back to the period immediately following 1917 Soviet Revolution, after which Russian Orthodox Christians were heavily persecuted in their home country by Soviet authorities. Many so-called White Russians fled to central and eastern Asia and beyond – and to the West.
The Armenian Orthodox Church has also had a long, very ancient presence in Iran, with the total Christian population of Iran numbering in the low hundreds of thousands – though some modern estimates have put it around possibly one million.
AntiWar.com, citing the AP, has reported that “the missile strike appeared to have targeted the nearby former US embassy compound in Tehran, from where the CIA coordinated the 1953 coup in Iran and where the hostage crisis started in 1979 following the Islamic Revolution that ousted the US-backed Shah.”
“Part of the former embassy has been turned into a museum highlighting the US role in the coup, called the Den of Espionage Museum,” the report continues.
Most Americans are likely unaware of the strong Christian, as well as Jewish presence, throughout Iran. Akin to Bush’s Iraq war, US mainstream media has done little to educate the American public on the sizable Christian minorities – part of ancient communities which predate the advent of Islam the Middle East. Middle East Christians are often the first bystanders in NeoCon regime change wars.
