Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran

In Iran, repression of the Bahá’í community is official government policy.

This policy is outlined in a previously secret memorandum that was uncovered and published by the U.N. Human Rights Commission in 1993. Written by the Iranian Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council in 1991 and signed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, this document provides a blueprint for the suppression of the Iranian Bahá’í community. It contains specific guidelines for dealing with the Bahá’ís so that “their progress and development are blocked.”

Some 300,000 Bahá’ís live throughout Iran, making the Bahá’í Faith the country’s largest minority religion. Bahá’ís have been targets of discrimination and violence in Iran since the religion began there in the mid-nineteenth century. More than 200 Bahá’ís were killed in Iran between 1978 and 1998, the majority by execution, and thousands more were imprisoned. Today the Iranian government regards Bahá’ís as apostates and “unprotected infidels.” Bahá’ís in Iran have no legal rights, and they are not permitted to elect leaders of their community. The Bahá’í Faith has no clergy, and community affairs are coordinated by democratically elected governing councils called Spiritual Assemblies.

Bahá’ís in Iran are systematically denied jobs, pensions and the right to inherit property. More than 10,000 Bahá’ís have been dismissed from government and university posts since Iran’s 1979 revolution.

• For the latest information, read the Bahá’í International Community’s online IRAN UPDATE.

A letter from an Iranian university, Payame Noor, states that it is Iranian government policy to prevent Bahá’ís, on account of their religion, from enrolling in universities and that they must be expelled if discovered to have enrolled. A confidential letter issued in 2006 by the director general of the Central Security Office of Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research and Technology instructs 81 Iranian universities to expel any student who is discovered to be a Bahá’í. Bahá’ís have been barred from institutions of higher education since 1980.

All Bahá’í cemeteries, holy places and community properties were seized soon after the 1979 revolution. None have been returned, and many sites of the greatest historical significance to Bahá’ís have been destroyed.

In November 2004, the Bahá’ís of Iran wrote a courteous letter to then-President Mohammad Khatami in which they requested that their civil and human rights be respected. Since that letter was distributed, Bahá’ís throughout the country have been arrested and detained for varying periods of time.

On May 20, 2008 a fatwa by Iranian Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri was made public. This decree, dated May 14, 2008, states that Bahá’ís should have “the rights of a citizen.” “The congregation of Bahá’ísm not having the heavenly book like those of Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians in the constitution [of Islamic republic of Iran], are not considered one of the religious minorities. However, since they are the citizens of this country, they have the rights of a citizen and to live in this country. Furthermore, they must benefit from the Islamic compassion which is stressed in Quran and by the religious authorities.”

In the spring of 2008 seven members of the national-level committee that coordinates the activities for the Iranian Bahá’í community were arrested and falsely accused of “espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic republic.” The Bahá’í leaders have been held for over two years in Evin prison with limited access to their families or their legal counsel. Three closed hearings were held in early 2010, but no evidence against the Baha’is has been presented, no verdict has been pronounced, and not future trial date is known.

Public outcry about the trial of the seven leaders has been significant; including national and international government statements, NGO reports and statements, and a full spectrum of media coverage, much of which can be accessed online here.

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