He reached Shiraz,[3] then he travelled to Tabriz to attempt to present the Shah with his Persian translation of the New Testament.

[4][5] The Church Missionary Society (CMS) was active in Persia from 1869, when the Revdd Robert Bruce established a mission station at Julfa in Ispahan.

[6][7] The beginnings of the Anglican Diocese of Iran were in 1883 when Valpy French, an Episcopal bishop, came to Lahore and traveled through Persia.

On 18 October 1935, William Thompson was consecrated as Iran's third bishop in St Paul's Cathedral, London.

On 25 April 1961, he was succeeded by Hassan Dehqani-Tafti, the first native Persian bishop of Iran.