Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran

The Charlottesville Daily Progress published an article titled “Baha’is find safe place to practice faith” about a local Baha’i family who settled in the area after escaping religious persecution in Iran.

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The European Union is “very worried” about the deterioration of religious freedom in Iran. The Associated Press posted a an article titled “EU worried about freedom of religion in Iran”.

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Compass Direct News posted an article titled “Iran: ‘Apostasy’ bill appears likely to become law”.

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Felice D. Gaer and Michael Cromartie, Commissioners on the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom, posted an article titled “Enabling Ahmadinejad” in the ‘On Faith’ section of The Washington Post.

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The US Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a statement on September 17 expressing concern over the institutionalization of a penal code in Iran that would introduce the death penalty in cases of apostasy.  Substantial mention is made about the Iranian Baha’i community in the following statement: USCIRF Concerned Over Apostasy Death Penalty Threat to Christians, Baha’is, Muslim Dissenters; Calls for Release of Prisoners

The Commission also released on September 19 a letter it had sent to a number of religious organizations protesting their initiative to invite President Ahmadinejad to take part in a dialogue on “the significance of religious contributions to peace.”  In this letter the Commission included reference to more than 20 Baha’is currently being held in prison on account of their religious beliefs: USCIRF: Don’t Legitimize Iranian President Ahmadinejad with Invitation to “Dialogue”

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Voice of America broadcast a piece titled “US Religious Freedom Report Faults North Korea, Eritrea, Iran”

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The U.S. Department of State released on Friday its International Religious Freedom Report. The section on Iran contained several references to the difficulties experienced by the Baha’i community in Iran.

Several references to the Baha’is were also made in Ambassador Hanford’s remarks at the briefing for the report.

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The Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom published a piece in today’s National Review Online about a private iftar dinner that will be held in New York next week to celebrate the end of Ramadan.  The president of Iran will be the guest of honor at this dinner.  Significant reference is given to the deteriorating situation of the Baha’is in Iran.

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