Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran

The Associated Press reported today that authorities have ordered Iran’s largest-circulation newspaper, Hamshahri, to close after it published an advertisement containing a photograph of a Baha’i temple. The AP wire story provided an overview of the ongoing persecution of Baha’is in Iran, including mention of the seven Baha’i leaders who have yet to face trial since they were arrested in the spring of 2008. The ban on the newspaper was lifted one day later, according to a Reuter’s report.

From the AP wire article:

Iran’s hard-line judiciary has shut down more than 120 pro-reform newspapers and jailed dozens of editors and writers on vague charges of insulting authorities since 2000.

The closure order was also a message to Iran’s estimated 300,000 Baha’is.

The original wire article was reprinted in The Washington Post and the New York Times, and covered by Reuters , the Jerusalem Post and Yahoo! News.

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Today, the U.N. General Assembly issued a strong condemnation of human rights violations in Iran, including violations against Baha’is.

The resolution, which was approved in the Third Committee of the U.N. General assembly by a vote of 74-48, expressed “deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran” and cited “increasing discrimination” against minorities, including members of the Baha’i Faith.

“This year’s resolution – which is among the most forcefully worded in more than 25 years of resolutions on Iran – sends a potent message to the government there, stating vigorously that the international community will not turn a blind eye to human rights violations,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.

• Read more from the Baha’i World News Service

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The Pacific News Center today reported that the Guam Senate has passed resolution 148, urging the U.S. government to “push for Iran to release members of the friends of Iran and to cease persecuting the Baha’i community of Iran.”

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U.S. Representative Mark Kirk mentioned the Baha’is of Iran during remarks at the U.S. Institute of Peace on November 4. After reading the names of 10 Iranian Baha’is currently imprisoned for their beliefs, Rep. Kirk said,

I say their names out loud today because no matter how hard the Iranian regime tries to silence these voices, the dictators cannot succeed as long as freedom-loving people around the world plead their case.

• Read the full text of Rep. Kirk’s statement

Rep. Mark Kirk speaking at the U.S. Institute of Peace on Nov. 4, 2009
Photo credit: Baha’is of the U.S.

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