Tehran, March 3, 2026
Photo: mospat.ru
The Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Tehran on Sunday, the second day of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran.
A small but devoted group of parishioners gathered for the Divine Liturgy for the feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, undeterred by the sound of explosions nearby heard throughout the service, reports the Department for External Church Relations.
The service was celebrated by cathedral cleric Igumen Varlaam (Dulsky).
“Despite the sound of explosions nearby, the service continued and concluded with a festive sermon by Igumen Varlaam,” the DECR writes.
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Photo: orthodox-world.org
The cathedral community celebrated its 80th anniversary in December.
In the first half of the 1940s, donations from Russian emigrants enabled the construction of a church on the northern outskirts of Tehran. St. Nicholas Cathedral officially opened on March 8, 1945, under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. The iconostasis was preserved and transferred from the previously closed Alexander Nevsky embassy church. A two-story church house was built alongside the cathedral to accommodate the parish office and priest’s residence.
The cathedral gradually fell into neglect during the 1980s. In 1995, at the request of parishioners, the cathedral was received into the Moscow Patriarchate.
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