Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran

For a group that prides itself on tolerance, Baha’is have drawn a lot of intolerance, especially in Iran, where the religion originated. Ever since Baha’i began, its followers have come under attack by fundamentalist Muslims. An early incarnation of Baha’is, the Babis, saw 20,000 of their members killed in the mid-19th century, and Baha’is founder, Baha’u’llah, spent most of his life either in prison or in exile.

The UN General Assembly Third Committee today voted in favor of a resolution that condemned Iran for its “serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations.” The resolution – which is expected to be confirmed by the full Assembly in December – also requests that the UN Secretary General issue a report on human rights in Iran again next year.

Hollywood star Rainn Wilson and actress/activist Shiva Rose hosted an audience of 1,300 at the Kavli Theatre in Thousand Oaks, CA, in mid-September for an evening dedicated to human rights in Iran. The program combined arts, panel discussions and a keynote address by Iranian-born journalist and film-maker Maziar Bahari who recently published a book about his incarceration in Iran in 2009. [...]

Read on the Baha’i World News Service NEW YORK — As seven Baha’i leaders in Iran complete their third year in jail, the Baha’i International Community has confirmed that the two women amongst them have been transferred to another prison. The seven were all members of a national-level ad hoc group that helped attend to [...]

  The latest installment in A Single Arrow Production’s mini-documentary series–”Angels of Iran”–features the story of Mona Mahmudnizhad, told by a childhood friend, Azadeh Rohanian-Perry, who now lives in Durham, North Carolina. Mona was only 16 years old when she was executed together with nine other women in Shiraz, Iran, on June 18, 1983. She [...]

After meeting with a delegation of her Baha’i constituents, U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney from New York’s 14th District released a statement on March 1 expressing concern about the treatment of Baha’is in Iran. The delegation requested the meeting with Congresswoman Maloney to consult with her about the unjust sentencing of the former Baha’i leadership group [...]

Four members of Congress from Illinois, the state that is home to the Baha’i House of Worship for North America, are asking the U.S. government to call on the Iranian government to change its policies towards the Baha’is. The two U.S. Senators are Mark Kirk and Dick Durbin and the two U.S. Representatives are Robert Dold and Dan Lipinski. [...]

Today the Iranian-American journalist who spent 100-days imprisoned in Iran, again mentioned the persecution of the Baha’is of Iran in an op-ed published in The Washington Post on May 13. From the article… If the international community fails to condemn such atrocities, Iran’s regime will continue to trample on the basic rights of individuals, many [...]

Books about the Baha’i Faith are among a growing number of titles banned at this year’s Tehran Book Fair, according to an article published on Monday, May 10, by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. From the article… We reported over the weekend about the banning of some books by Iranian authors at Tehran’s Book Fair. The [...]

This Friday, May 14, marks the two-year anniversary of the arrest of seven Iranian Baha’i leaders on a series of false charges stemming from their membership with the minority Baha’i Faith. They are still in prison today. The seven defendants are Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mrs. Mahvash [...]

On Wednesday, April 21, the Chicago Tribune published the following article about journalist Roxana Saberi speaking at Northwestern University in Chicago to promote her new book, “Between Two Worlds.” From the Chicago Tribune… In prison, Saberi shared a cell with two women who were persecuted for their Baha’i beliefs. Saberi said she found the strength [...]

On Monday, April 12, the Miami Herald published an article about a Baha’i woman in Miami who experienced educational discrimination in Iran for her beliefs. Nadia Riazati, who arrived in the U.S. two years ago and is currently pursuing a doctorate degree at Florida International University, shared her story during a public event in Miami [...]

On Monday, April 5, journalist and author Roxana Saberi mentioned the Baha’i Faith in a Q&A with Inter Press News about her new book, “Between Two Worlds.” “I tried to describe many aspects of Iranian society, partly through the stories of my cellmates. I described the situation of minority religions (specifically the Baha’i faith) in [...]

On February 16, “Faith Complex,” a program of the Washington Post and Georgetown University, published an interview with  Baha’i author Sovaida Ma’ani Ewing of Washington, D.C. The 11-minute program provides an overview of the past and present persecution of the Baha’i Faith in Iran. You can watch it via the Washington Post.

In an Associated Press article published January 28 in the Washington Post, Iranian prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi reportedly announced that a group of post-election detainees, including an unknown number of Baha’is, would go on trial Saturday, January 30. From the article: He said the trial will demonstrate the role of “leftists, Bahais and those who [...]

Human Rights Watch again included the persecution of Iran’s Baha’i community in it’s annual report, World Report 2010, which evaluates human rights in 90 countries and territories throughout 2009. Below is an excerpt from the report on Iran, mentioning the situation of the Baha’is: The government continues to deny members of the Baha’i faith, Iran’s [...]

On January 22, The New York Times published the following article, written by religion columnist Samuel G. Freedman, about the persecution of the Baha’i Faith in Iran from the perspective of a D.C.-area Baha’i whose brother, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, is among seven Baha’i leaders who are currently on trial in Tehran. From the article… In [...]

The commencement of the trial of seven Baha’is in Iran was highlighted this week by the PBS program Religion & Ethics Newsweekly: In Iran, a trial there has drawn international condemnation. Seven leaders of the Baha’i community are accused of spying for Israel, charges that have them facing the death penalty. The accused have been [...]

On Dec. 8, TIME magazine ranked the ongoing detention of seven Baha’i leaders in Iran ninth among the top 10 religion stories of 2009. From the article: The government of Iran has held seven leaders of the Baha’i faith — a monotheistic religion founded in 19th century Persia — in prison for more than a year [...]

On December 1, the U.S. Senate passed by unanimous consent a resolution condemning the state-sponsored persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran, the country’s largest religious minority. Human rights violations against the Iranian Bahá’í community have increased since 2005, including the incarceration of Baha’i leaders in Evin prison eighteen months ago. S.Res.71 is a concurrent resolution to H.Res.175—the eleventh congressional [...]