An Iranian-born pastor told The Daily Signal that four members of his family were shot in Iran during the recent protests against the regime, and that the death toll of protesters may exceed current estimates.

“Just imagine if four in one family can be shot, imagine the scale of the massacre,” said Ramin Parsa, an Iranian-born pastor currently living in Jerusalem.

Anti-regime protests began in Iran on Dec. 28. Initially, authorities were reported to be using pellet guns to disperse crowds, but then began using live ammunition.  

The number of protesters killed is unknown due to limited information coming out of Iran amid regime-imposed internet blackouts, but estimates of the death toll range from 6,000 to more than 30,000.

Some, including Parsa, argue the number killed could be even higher.  

Parsa, 40, was born in Iran but, fearing for his safety, fled in 2006 after converting to Christianity as a young man. Parsa now lives in Israel, but has received some information from his family in Iran over the past month.  

“I talked to my brother for two minutes,” Parsa said, adding the call had to be short because “if it’s longer, they can listen to the conversation,” referring to authorities loyal to the Iranian regime.  

All four of Parsa’s family members survived their wounds, but he said his older brother was arrested after being shot. The family does not know his condition.  

Parsa’s nephew, who he says is 12 or 13, was shot with a pellet gun. The family found a private doctor willing to remove the pellets since “people can’t go to hospitals, because they’re arresting the wounded people.” 

The protests are driven by dissatisfaction over Iran’s government, led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and frustration over the nation’s struggling economy. 

The anti-regime protests are not as large as they were earlier in the month, according to Parsa, because there is an â€œunannounced curfew, meaning that they don’t tell you there’s a curfew, but if you come out, they can arrest you, or searching you, or they even shoot you.”

‘Begging’ for Help

Parsa says the Iranian citizens are “wishing that Israel and America would do something.”    

The “Iranian people are the only people I know that they’re begging a foreign government to come attack them, to free them,” he said.  

On Jan. 13, President Donald Trump encouraged Iranians to “keep protesting,” telling them, “Help is on its way.”   

On Wednesday morning, Trump issued a warning to the Iranian regime, telling it, “Time is running out” to make a deal over its nuclear program.  

The U.S. has moved a significant amount of military assets into the region, including the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group.  

Growing Up in Iran

Since the end of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Iranian people have lived under a legal code based on Sharia law. Growing up in Iran, Parsa says he can remember shouting “Death to America, Death to Israel” with his classmates each morning.  

While Parsa says he grew up hearing that Islam was good, he questioned the faith as a teen.

‘OK, Jesus’

When he was 19, Parsa heard someone telling a story on the radio of being suicidal, and then crediting a Christian church with changing his whole life. A few weeks later, Parsa was watching television through satellite, explaining that despite being illegal, many people in Iran have satellites that give them access to information broadcast outside Iran.  

“I came across a channel, somebody was talking about Jesus, that He loves me,” Parsa recalled.  

“I said, ‘OK, Jesus, if it’s true that you are the Son of God, you died for me, you rose from the dead, I don’t know if it’s true or not, but if it’s true, okay, come into my life.’ … And the moment I say that, I felt a heat went through my left hand and it went through all my body, and I started shaking, and I started crying, and I felt this love I’d never felt before.” 

Parsa told his family members what had happened to him and they also chose to follow Christ. 

He discovered the Bible online and began to read the Gospel of Matthew. He discovered that Jesus was a Jew from Israel and “immediately” says he â€œbegan to have a love for Jews and for Christians.”  

Parsa began to write down portions of Scripture and hand them out on the streets, but after he was stabbed while doing so, he knew he needed to leave Iran for his safety.  

Pastor Parsa

Parsa was smuggled out of the country in 2006 and first traveled to Turkey before he was given the opportunity to move to America. He attended a Bible college for two years before moving to California and pastoring a church for the Iranian community there.  

In 2020, Parsa met his wife, an Israeli woman, through her artwork depicting unity between Iranians and Israelis. The two were married in America in December 2020.

Today, Parsa and his wife live in Jerusalem and he is doing humanitarian work in Israel. Parsa says he and the people if Iran “are still hoping” the U.S. will take action and the nation “will be free.” 

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