Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran

The UK’s Channel 4 News interviewed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi on February 18, about the harassment she suffers in Iran partly because of her defense of the seven Baha’i leaders currently in jail and facing trial in Tehran.

GENEVA, February 18, 2009 (BWNS) – The European Union yesterday issued a statement expressing its “deep concern” over Iran’s plans to bring seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders to trial for espionage and other charges soon. The Baha’i International Community has called for their immediate release, maintaining their innocence and characterizing the regime’s claims as an “escalation [...]

NEW YORK, February 15, 2009 ( BWNS) -  International reaction to news that Iran may soon put on trial seven Baha’i leaders for espionage and other charges came swiftly last week as governments, parliamentary leaders and human rights organizations expressed strong criticism of any such trial. Many called for the immediate release of the Baha’is.

The Institute for Religion and Public Policy has issued the following statement condemning the upcoming trial of Baha’i leaders in Iran. Washington, DC–After Iran arrested all seven national Bahá’í leaders almost a year ago, it is now expected to put them on trial in revolutionary court next week. The charges against the seven, who are [...]

As noted on the February 11, 2009 Congressional Record, Representative Frank R. Wolf expressed concern over the upcoming trial of the seven Baha’i leaders.

Members of the national coordinating group of the Iranian Baha’i community arrested in spring 2008 The Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) announced today that charges had been laid against the seven imprisoned members of the national-level committee that coordinates the activities for the Iranian Baha’i community. The report quoted deputy Tehran prosecutor Hassan Haddad as [...]

GENEVA, 30 January (BWNS) – The destruction earlier this month of a cemetery in Iran used for the mass burial of hundreds killed in the aftermath of the Islamic revolution in 1979 is an outrageous violation of human dignity, the Baha’i International Community said today. At least 15 Baha’is were among those buried at the [...]

The Baha’i World News Service has put out a statement about the arrest of six Baha’is in Iran: GENEVA, 15 January (BWNS) – At least six Baha’is were arrested in Iran yesterday, including a woman who worked at human rights organizations connected with Nobel prize winner Shirin Ebadi.

GENEVA,  December 23, 2008 (BWNS)- The Baha’i International Community today expressed grave concern over the closing by the Iranian government of Shirin Ebadi’s Defenders of Human Rights Center in Tehran and called for its reopening.

Agence France Presse (AFP) broke (yesterday) the news that Iranian authorities have closed down the offices of the 2003 Nobel Laureate human rights attorney Shirin Ebadi. Shirin Ebadi and her colleagues at the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran are defending the seven jailed national Baha’i leaders but have been denied access to the [...]

NEW YORK, August 12 2008 (BWNS) — Fraudulent claims in the Iranian news media about seven imprisoned Baha’i leaders and the efforts of Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and others to defend them represent an effort by the government to prevent Baha’is from having adequate legal representation – and also to stir up “irrational [...]

Six Nobel Peace Prize laureates have issued a statement calling on the Iranian government to immediately free seven prominent Iranian Baha’is imprisoned in Tehran.

The Center for the Defenders of Human Rights led by Shirin Ebadi, Nobel winner, issued a report about the Iranian government’s crackdown on students activists.  The group also expressed concern about the Baha’i community in Iran.