The Armenian community in Iran — descended from Shah Abbas's 1604 resettlement of New Julfa — is one of the oldest continuous Armenian communities outside historic Armenia itself. Today an estimated 70,000 to 150,000 Iranian Armenians (roughly half in greater Tehran) maintain their own churches, schools, Armenian-language press, and a constitutionally guaranteed seat in Iran's parliament — a protected Christian minority status enshrined in the Islamic Republic's constitution.
1439Armenian Diaspora
