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.

“While Iran’s leaders hypocritally claim to promote tolerance, they continue to detain, imprison, harass, and abuse those who simply wish to worship the faith of their choosing.” — U.S. Department of State spokeswoman Victoria Nuland Read entire editorial here. Excerpt Earlier this month, Iranian authorities reportedly refused to allow a Baha’i family to bury a [...]

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 [...]

* This article has been updated to reflect new information on the number of arrests in connection with the BIHE raids. GENEVA — A coordinated series of raids have been carried out on the homes of several Iranian Baha’is, active in a community initiative to provide a higher education program for young members who are [...]

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 [...]

Columnist Samuel G. Freedman‘s “On Religion” article in The New York Times on May 7 coincided with Mother’s Day weekend. So he decided to write about a woman’s courage in facing the severe hardships she endured for her daughter and her faith. HOUSTON — On a blustery night the week before Mother’s Day, a woman [...]

DOWNLOAD PDF: Please share this invitation to attend or stream live over the Web the reception on May 12 to commemorate the third anniversary of the incarceration of Iran’s seven Baha’i leaders. Live streaming will be available online. Stay tuned!

On April 28, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2011 Annual Report . The report describes - beginning on page 78 – the “severe” persecution of the Baha’i community in Iran from April 2010 to March 2011.  Iran is one of 14 countries USCIRF recommends that the Secretary of State name “countries of particular concern” or [...]

ROUND-UP: A congressman’s website blogpost, a senator’s thoughtful letter and a prominently placed op-ed article in a metro daily newspaper—these are the latest examples of the positive outcomes of the nationwide effort by the U.S. Baha’i Community to raise awareness of the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran. Also, check out S.Res.80 and H.Res.134 for updates [...]

  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 [...]

Dr. Cornel West is a philosopher and Princeton professor of African American Studies and Religion and a staunch defender of rights and freedoms for all people. He learned about the Baha’i Faith through his race unity work, befriending Baha’is such as jazz maestro Dizzy Gillespie. Professor West recently welcomed a relative of an imprisoned Iranian [...]

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. [...]

The count of Iranian Baha’is currently in prison because of their religion has climbed in recent weeks to 79, according to an update from the Baha’i World News Service released on March 20, up from 69 prisoners recorded in February. On the same day, U.S. President Barack Obama issued his annual Naw Ruz greeting to the people [...]

Iranian authorities have arrested a number of Baha’is who provided education to children in a region devastated by an earthquake seven years ago. The Baha’i International Community has so far been able to confirm the arrest of four Baha’is this month in connection with the provision of kindergarten-level education in Iran’s Kerman Province, south-east of [...]

In a public statement marking International Women’s Day, Amnesty International urges Iranian authorities “to release immediately all women detained arbitrarily in Iran, including political activists, rights defenders and members of religious and ethnic minorities.” The statement decries the unjust imprisonment by the Iranian government of innocent women who simply “wish to see greater respect for [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

Photo courtesy of Baha’i World News Service Baha’i World News Service– A recent wave of arson attacks on Baha’i-owned businesses in Rafsanjan, Iran, appears to be part of a campaign to fracture relationships between Baha’is and Muslims in the city. After around a dozen attacks on shops – carried out since 25 October 2010 – [...]