Last updated: 9 October 2008

Note: This report, updated regularly, is provided as a service to news media and others desiring details of the situation of the Baha'is in Iran. All information has been verified by the Baha'i International Community.

Words in italics have been altered or added since the previous update.

Government promotes petition against Baha’is:

A week after an anti-Baha’i petition was displayed prominently at a major event in Tehran, a similar signing event occurred in the city of Qom. Both came during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting.

As reported previously, in Tehran on the third Friday of Ramadan (19 September) – when huge crowds gather at a special enclosed area to hear Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei lead prayers and offer a sermon – the petition was positioned where worshippers would sign it as they entered. Officials from the Ministry of Intelligence were on hand to gain the maximum number of signatures.

A second signing event was set up the following Friday in the city of Qom at the time of the annual Jerusalem Day march, which involves sloganeering against the “Zionist regime” and against the United States. The petition was on display at the entrance of the Khomeini Mosque, which encloses the Shrine of Fatima Masoumeh – one of the holiest spots in Iran for Shiite Muslims.

The petition, which had been announced earlier by Iranian news agencies, including the official IRNA, was filled with falsehoods and inflammatory statements about the Baha’i Faith, and called for the dissolution of “Baha’ist institutions.”

People who signed were given a pamphlet with the text of the petition and additional false information about the Baha’i Faith and the Baha’is.

News reports confirmed that in the petition, a group named The People's Movement Against Baha'ist Institutions in Iran, stated: “Baha'ism is an organized sect whose leadership is situated within the secure boundaries of the occupying and tyrannical regime of Israel, and its doctrine is based on spreading lies against Islam and Iran. It is spreading the political, cultural and economic goals of international Zionism audaciously and rapidly. The Baha'ist Zionist organization has not only attacked Islam in a cowardly way, but does not even believe in the rules of civility and human virtues. We, the undersigned, in accordance with our civic and Islamic duties, demand that the respected Public Prosecutor deal with all the elements of the [Bahá'í] institutions and dissolve this organization.”

In fact, elected Baha’i institutions, which exist in almost all countries of the world, were banned by the government of Iran in the early 1980s, and since then Iranian Baha’is have been forced to take care of the needs of their 300,000-member community on a less formal basis.

Baha’i leaders still in prison; Nobel Prize winner continues in their defense:

The seven members of the Baha’i coordinating committee remain in Evin Prison in Tehran but have finally been allowed brief visits with their families. No announcement has been made of formal charges, or a possible trial, although in early August a government prosecutor was quoted in the press as saying the individuals had “confessed” to operating an “illegal” organization with ties to Israel and other countries – charges categorically denied by the Baha’i International Community. (See BWNS article.)

Mrs. Shirin Ebadi – a prominent Iranian human rights attorney who is a Nobel laureate – maintains that she and her colleagues at the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran are prepared to defend the jailed Baha’is, despite criticism and false accusations leveled at her and her family because of their involvement, including charges that she or her daughter have become Baha’is. Mrs. Ebadi is a Muslim, and the Baha’i International Community confirms that neither she nor her daughter have ever been Baha’is. She has stated that attorneys have been denied access to those in jail. (For more information about Mrs. Ebadi, see official Baha’i statement dated 12 August 2008.)

The members of the Baha’i coordinating committee who are in prison are Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mr. Vahid Tizfahm, and Mrs. Mahvash Sabet. The first six have been jailed since May, and Mrs. Sabet since March.

At least 22 Baha’is currently in jail:

There are at least 22 Baha’is in jail in different parts of Iran who are imprisoned because of their religion. At any given moment, there may actually be more than this number, but sometimes Baha’is are detained overnight and released, or they may be allowed out on bail after depositing with the court a sum in cash or surrendering business licenses or titles to property.

Hundreds of young trees cut down at Baha’i cemetery:

In the early hours of 28 September, the Baha’i cemetery in Isfahan was vandalized by unknown individuals, who systematically felled hundreds of young trees and set fire to a storeroom where furniture and tools were kept. The crime was reported to authorities both at the local and national levels.

The continued destruction and defacement of Baha’i cemeteries belies the government assertion that it monitors Baha’is due to “security concerns.” Also, the fact that much of the destruction is done by heavy equipment shows that it is not being perpetrated by small-time vandals.

(See earlier BWNS article about cemetery destruction.)

The nature of the “charges” against the Baha’is:

Despite the many detentions of Baha’is in recent months and years – often without official charges – the government denies that it persecutes Baha’is because of their religion. Increasingly, however, even official charges filed against individuals are indicative of the anti-Baha’i campaign.

For example, three Baha’is arrested in August in Tehran were charged with “teaching Baha’ism, propaganda against the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and insulting the sacred institutions of Islam.”

(Interestingly, in a separate case that came to trial in June – that of two Baha’is arrested in Shiraz who also were charged with “insulting the sacred institutions of Islam” – the defendants were acquitted after the court determined that Islamic institutions were not insulted in any of the books found in the homes of the accused. This kind of a verdict has been rare in the case of Baha’is.)

The expulsion of Baha’i students from their schools and universities is clearly and transparently based on religious discrimination. (See following section.)

Denial of education:

Case after case is coming to light of students being expelled from educational institutions, with authorities openly stating that the reason is the fact that they are Baha’is.

Examples:

• On 4 August 2008, just before her graduation, Neda Keshavarz Rahbar, an accountancy student at Fazilat University in Semnan, was summoned and questioned as to why she did not inform the institution that she was a Baha’i. She pointed out that her application forms indeed indicated her religion. She was given the opportunity to recant her faith, and when she declined, she was immediately expelled from the university.

• Farnaz Rouhani was denied entry to her high school in Shiraz when school officials found out she was Baha’i. She was told that the school does not accept religious minorities.

• Ghazal Rezapour of Isfahan was refused entry at the school she had already been attending. The reason, she was told, was that on her documents, she listed her religion as Baha’i. She was told that if she had not done this, she would have been accepted.

• Samim Mirhosseini of Karaj passed a special exam for gifted students but then was refused entry to the corresponding school because of his religion. (The next year, however, a different strategy was used — someone had lowered the scores on his exam to make it appear that he didn’t qualify.)

(See BWNS article of 3 October for more details about denial of education, including cases of students who have unsuccessfully attempted to seek redress through the courts.)

Recent examples of attacks and harassment:

• It had earlier been reported that Mr. Mehran Bandi of Yazd was arrested and taken away on 29 May 2008. Also that day, his computer company was raided and searched by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence. It has now been learned that on 28 August, the Revolutionary Court in Yazd issued a verdict sentencing Mr. Bandi to three and a half years in prison, followed by three years of internal exile and five years of prohibition from trading in computers. The court said that Mr. Bandi and another Baha’i defendant were guilty of “meeting and colluding against the internal and external security of Iran” and of “teaching against the Islamic Republic for the benefit of anti-government groups.”

• Two Baha’is in Mashhad were killed and one seriously injured when they were run over by a car, apparently on purpose. All three had earlier received threatening telephone calls.

• Reports of Baha’is being dismissed from jobs or prevented from operating their businesses confirm that the government continues enforcing work restrictions against Baha’is throughout Iran. In Kerman province, on 25 August, eight shops owned by Baha’is and located in a shopping arcade were locked and sealed by the Public Places Supervision Office on the pretext that the owners did not have work permits. Anti-Baha’i propaganda was distributed to other shops in the arcade.

Anti-Baha’i newspaper series continues:

• Kayhan, the government-backed national newspaper, has published more than 60 articles since July consisting of excerpts from a new book that purports to be the memoirs of a man who had been a Baha’i but recanted his faith. The articles are filled with false and misleading material about Baha’u’llah, Baha’i administration, and supposed Baha’i activities. The same newspaper has published more than 200 articles in the last three years maligning the Baha’is.

• On 10 September 2008, Fars, an Iranian news agency, reported that a lengthy (anti-Baha’i) narrative titled “Deception” is being published as a series in a magazine called “Today’s Woman,” a Kayhan publication.

• Several local newspapers regularly print excerpts of sermons by Muslim imams that attack the Baha’i Faith and give false accusations.

• Iranian television has also broadcast programs attempting to create ill will against the Baha’i Faith and the Baha’is.

Statements condemning arrests and persecution of Baha’is:

Many governments, international organizations, and prominent people – including some Iranian groups and individuals both at home and abroad – have condemned the detention of Baha’i leaders without due process, or condemned outright the Iranian government’s persecution of Baha’is.

Of particular interest recently are two articles published in Persian by writers not associated with the Baha’is:

• Ali Keshtgar’s article in the online journal Gooya News – titled “We Are All Iranian Baha’is!” and published on 15 August 2008 – suggests that the intensity of the Iranian government’s anti-Baha’i campaign has intimidated even human rights activists. He makes an impassioned plea for human rights organizations “to adopt the defense of complete religious rights and equality, and opposition to all forms of religious bias, as their foremost principle.”

• Ahmad Batebi authored a long piece published on 2 September 2008 in the journal Rooz that, among other things, (1) outlines in detail how Baha’is are prevented from enrolling in university, (2) cites clauses from the Iranian constitution that grant equal rights to minorities, (3) attempts to analyze why the Shiite government persecutes Baha’is more than other religions, and (4) offers a long argument that concludes with the statement, “Baha’is in all Islamic societies must be given complete and unhindered freedom of expression.” Mr. Batebi gained fame in 1999 when a photograph of him appeared on the cover of The Economist magazine, holding a shirt splattered with the blood of a fellow protestor in Iran. He was jailed and suffered years of torture and imprisonment before escaping; he is believed to be living in the United States.

Summary:

Harassment of Baha’is is pervasive and includes many incidents of all of the following:

• Arrests and detention, with imprisonment lasting for days, months, or years. In cases where the Baha’i is released, substantial bail is often required.
• Direct intimidation and questioning by authorities, sometimes with the use of high-intensity lights and physical mistreatment.
• Searches of homes and business, usually with Baha’i books and other items confiscated.
• School expulsions and harassment of schoolchildren.
• Prohibition on Baha’is attending universities.
• Court proceedings where Baha’is are accused of promoting propaganda against the government “for the benefit of the Bahaist sect.”
• Monitoring of the bank accounts, movement, and activities of Baha’is, including official questioning of Baha’is requiring them to give information about their lives, actions, neighbors, etc.
• Denial or confiscation of business licenses.
• Denial of work opportunities in general.
• Denial of rightful inheritances to Baha’is.
• Physical assaults, and efforts to drive Baha’is out of towns and villages.
• Desecration and destruction of Baha’i cemeteries, and harassment over burial rights.
• Dissemination, including in official news media, of misinformation about Baha’is, and incitement of hatred against Baha’is.
• Evictions from places of business, including Baha’i doctors from their offices and clinics.
• Intimidation of Muslims who associate with Baha’is.
• Attempts by authorities to get Baha’is to spy on other Baha’is.
• Threatening phone calls and letters to Baha’is.
• Denial of pension benefits.
• Denial of access to publishing or copying facilities for Baha’i literature.
• Confiscation of property.

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