Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has named Iran among eight “Countries of Particular Concern” in relation to its repression of religious minorities. At the launch of the State Department’s Annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom, Secretary Clinton highlighted those countries whose governments engage in – or tolerate – “particularly [...]

Update: check out the Facebook event for the call-in campaign! Invite your friends! There’s a map for that! Want to know which senators have already co-sponsored S.Res.80? Has your representative signed on yet to H.Res.134? Which officials received delegation visits on behalf of the Baha’is in Iran? Find answers at: http://iran.bahai.us/congressional-outreach-maps/ Congressional outreach campaign on [...]

Arrests on the rise According to the latest reports, 103 Baha’is are currently behind bars because of their religious beliefs. This number has risen dramatically from the beginning of the year. Another nearly 100 Baha’is have received prison sentences and await appeal or summons to begin serving their terms.  An additional 160 Baha’is are free on bail but could [...]

Read statement on State Department website Persecution of Religious Minorities in Iran Victoria Nuland Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC July 6, 2011 We are dismayed over reports that the Iranian courts are requiring Youcef Nadarkhani to recant his Christian faith or face the death penalty for apostasy – a charge based on his [...]

Iran’s beleaguered Baha’i community has again received the unqualified support of 16-term Virginia Congressman Frank Wolf, co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Following the arrests of more than a dozen faculty and administrators of a peaceful education program for Baha’i students shunned by Iranian universities, Rep. Wolf made these remarks on the House [...]

In response to a message from the national governing council of the Baha’is of the U.S. urging individuals to call their U.S. senators and representatives on behalf of the seven Baha’i leaders currently imprisoned in Iran, one young woman turned to Facebook to help support the effort. Before a week had passed, more than 10,000 [...]

Iranian-American scientist Farzad Kamalabadi’s sister is a prisoner in their homeland for being a Baha’i, but Iran is betting the U.S. and other countries don’t care. On the contrary,  Dr. Kamalabadi spoke on Capitol Hill, at the Becket Fund reception Mar. 31 to honor the Congressional International Religious Freedom Caucus, about the crucial role of international pressure in the [...]

By overwhelming majority vote on March 24, the UN Human Rights Council called for a special investigator to monitor Iran’s compliance with international human rights standards to which the country has cynically paid lip service for decades. Growing world solidarity on the issue of  holding Iran accountable for its increasing violations of basic human rights. [...]

Three short films released today, featuring interviews with Iranian Baha’is whose families have been persecuted by the Iranian government, mark the launch of a series of mini-documentaries – titled “Angels of Iran” – that focus on the country’s human rights record. Executives chose the day celebrating the ancient Persian new year, Naw Ruz, as the [...]

Blogger Reza Aslan weighs in on how each individual can play a part in supporting the spread of human rights at this crucial time in a critical part of the world: As the Iranian regime continues to tighten the noose of oppression around the throats of all its citizens, one group of Iranians is being [...]

CNN International today published the following story: Baha’is say jailed leaders in Iran face harsh new accusation

Because of the escalation in the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran in recent months and the circumstances surrounding the possible trial of the seven Bahá’í national leaders in Iran, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the U.S has decided to expand the scope of the video contest it launched late last fall [...]

Iran’s Attorney General, Ayatollah Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi, wrote a letter to the country’s Minister of Intelligence, Muhseni-Azheh’i.  The letter is undated, but since it was published online on 19 February 2009, it appears that it was dispatched around mid-February.  The letter includes various instructions regarding the government’s treatment of the Baha’i community. Below is a translation [...]

In an open letter dated March 9, 2009, scholars and academic specialists in the fields of Middle Eastern and Iranian studies call on the Islamic Republic of Iran to put an end to human rights abuses against Baha’is in Iran.

H. Res. 175 condemning the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran introduced on February 13, 2009, has 30 cosponsors as of March 11, 2009.

The Jewish Daily Forward published an Op-Ep article about the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran titled “Then They Came for the Baha’i”.

The International Herald & Tribune picked up an article titled “Baha’is accuse Iran of Religious Bias, Say Community Leaders Unfairly Detained” from the Associated Press.

Iran Visual News Corps has posted a follow-up story about the arrests: Washington, May 15 (IranVNC)—The U.S. government and non-governmental organizations have denounced the recent arrest of six leaders of Iran’s Baha’i community by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry, and have called for the release of all Baha’is in detention.

The American Jewish Committee has expressed its concern over the arrest and detention of Baha’i leaders in Iran.

CNN posted an article titled: “Iran’s arrest of Baha’is condemned”