A viral video, a deadly crackdown and a dramatic escape.

At the start of this year, they all played a dramatic role in the life of Ali Rezaei Majd, an Iranian Christian and fitness trainer turned protester and activist.

At more than 180 centimetres tall with 100 kilograms of muscle, tattoos etched across his body, and long, thick hair, Ali Razael is a presence to be reckoned with.

He looks like a fighter. And in many ways, he is.

“From the moment I was born, and came to this world, I was always feeling like I’m living in a prison,” he told CBN News.

WHAT PROMPTED ALI TO JOIN JANUARY STREET PROTESTS

Ali comes from Iran’s Lorestan province, a region known for its fiercely independent people.

For generations, they’ve carried a reputation as warriors, rebels, and survivors.

Before everything changed, Ali owned a business in the city of Doroud as a fitness trainer, running a small gym, building strength in others.

He built a loyal following on Instagram, posting workout routines, discipline, and transformation.

But behind the strength, a different struggle was building.

“We want to live free, brother, we want to live free,” he said.

HOW A BIBLE TRANSFORMED ALI’S LIFE

Growing up in Iran, Ali was always searching for the truth.

As a teenager, he asked imams questions about faith, but their answers did not satisfy him.

While he was still looking for answers, a friend sent him a Persian-language Bible as a gift.

“So I started reading the Gospel and I got my answers,” he said.

“I found my connection to that book and I just kept reading and reading, and I became a believer after I read that book.”

POSSESSING A BIBLE PUT ALI’S LIFE IN DANGER 

He found peace and a new direction after turning to Christ, but now he had a new set of earthly problems:

Possessing a Bible put his life in danger, he said, so he hid it from everyone, including his family.

“Do you know the rules in Iran? Carrying the Gospel or changing your religion:”

“Execution, brother, execution. So you cannot go to a bookshop and ask for a Gospel or Bible. This is like going and asking for drugs.”

HE WAS A CHRISTIAN IN ISOLATION

He had never met a Christian and never attended a church. 

“I was just hiding. I was only dreaming to be in a church with other believers, praying with the people. I was alone.”

“I was living with Jesus for a long time, and after this, the protests began in Iran.”

ALI WITNESSED HIS FRIENDS BEING SHOT BY POLICE AND REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS

On January the 5th, Ali joined hundreds in the streets, protesting against Iran’s Islamic regime, demanding freedom and change.

What happened next would change his life forever.

Ali watched as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard gunned down his friends.

“The sound of shooting and killing people from the Basij (morality police) and IRGC forces, this is what happened.”

“People were asking for freedom and the government forces were killing them so easily.”

ALI’S MESSAGE TO THE IRANIAN REGIME

The next day, January the 6th, Ali picked up his phone and recorded a message in English. He said:

“I was born in the land of poetry and history, but today I am growing up in darkness.”

“Our voices are silenced, our dreams are being destroyed and our people are suffering.”

“MY MESSAGE: WE DON’T NEED THIS GOVERNMENT”

In a livestreamed video, he declared:

“I am an Iranian living in Iran. I don’t like this regime. I don’t trust my supreme leader.”

“And as an Iranian, I want to send my message to all around the world. We don’t need this government.”

ALI EXPLAINS WHY HE POSTED THE VIDEOS

Ali says he posted the videos to push back against what he calls the regime’s false narrative about the West.

“We can be good friends, good allies for each other, but they’re trying to show a face from us that we hate America, all big lies,” he told CBN Special International Correspondent George Thomas.

“George, you said you were in Iran. Do you think we Iranians are like that?”

“DO WE HATE AMERICA AND ISRAEL? THIS IS A BIG LIE”

“Do you think we hate America? Do you think we hate Israel?”

“This is a big lie. So, all of them are the reason that we try to fight against them.”

“They are destroying everything about us.”

“SOMETHING INSIDE ME WAS TELLING ME TO HAVE COURAGE”

Ali said his friends were shocked and could not believe what he had just done.

He said he accepted the possibility of death because he believed he would simply go to Jesus.

“Something inside me was telling me to have courage, my son. Don’t worry about anything. I will protect you.”

He knew without a shadow of doubt that when he posted those videos, in the middle of the protests, he was signing up for trouble.

“Yes, I always knew that, and I was ready for everything,” he said.

HUGE RESPONSE TO HIS VIDEOS AS POLICE AND SOLDIERS HUNT FOR HIM

The response to his videos was massive.

Nearly two million views in English, and almost 10 million in Farsi.

That same day, Iranian authorities came looking for him.

Friends warned him just in time, so he ran, for eight days.

ALI FLEES TO KURDISH REGION IN NORTHERN IRAQ

“I just packed a bag, running out, going through cities, and changing my location every day.”

He fled toward the Iraqi border, all the while documenting his arduous journey.

He finally crossed illegally into Kurdish Iraq with the help of friends.

ALI GETS BAPTISED IN IRAQ

Ali was sad to leave, but he didn’t have much choice.

“I love my home. I love my people,” he said.

Then, on March 7th, in a small house church in Iraq, he made a decision he says he could never safely make at home.

He was baptised in a tiny bathtub.

“JESUS WAS PROTECTING ME ALL THE WAY”

“Jesus was protecting me in all my path,” he reflected on his ability to evade his hunters for eight days and then be taken in by Christians.

“That was like a miracle for me. It was like God gifted me new friends. And I really enjoyed being with these believers.”

He said he is now happy in his life with his Christian friends and looking for ways to continue working for the people of Iran.

ALI CONTINUES TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST IRAN’S RULERS

Today, Ali, who also goes by Michael, is still fighting.

But with a different purpose.

Using his platform, he continues to speak out, calling on the world to help take down the regime in his homeland.

“I need a free Iran, brother, not the Iran that is kidnapped by some jihadis. I don’t want that. “

“I want to do everything to free my country for the other people.”

HE COULD TAKE UP ARMS AGAINST THE IRANIAN REGIME

He’s joined a Kurdish military group in Iraq that’s training for a potential ground incursion into western Iran.

“As a Christian, I forgive all IRGC. I will pray for them every day.”

“But, you know, I think I am like a sheep dog for the Lord.”

Sometimes, sheep dogs must protect the sheep.”

“So, I think this is what I should do.”

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