Intensity of persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran increases
Friends who subscribe to the Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS) will be aware of the heartbreaking situation currently being faced by our beloved brethren in the cradle of our Faith. Sadly, there has been a significant increase in the intensity of the persecution of the Bahá'ís in Iran. The senseless cruelty and baseless accusations against the innocent friends in Iran, coupled with an intensification of hate propaganda against them and disinformation about the Faith being perpetrated from the highest levels has escalated. More than 100 believers have been targetted and jailed over the past few weeks.
Thirteen individuals—among them Mahvash Sabet, Fariba Kamalabadi, and Afif Naemi, formerly part of the community’s leadership and prisoners of conscience who each spent a decade in prison—were arrested during recent raids. One is being held in solitary confinement in Evin Prison and the whereabouts of the other two are unknown. More than a hundred Bahá’ís have therefore been targeted in Iran over the past few weeks. The Bahá'í World News Service writes:
Mahvash Sabet, who wrote poetry during her decade in Tehran’s Evin Prison, which were shared during her incarceration and later published in English under the title “Prison Poems,” was recognized in 2017 as an English PEN International Writer of Courage.
“We are very concerned by reports that Mahvash Sabet, the winner of the 2017 PEN Pinter Prize for an International Writer of Courage, has once again been detained in Iran,” said Daniel Gorman, Director of English PEN. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
Fariba Kamalabadi, a developmental psychologist, was arrested in 2008 and also spent a decade behind bars. In 2017 the United States Commission on Religious Freedom recognized and championed her as a religious prisoner of conscience.
Afif Naemi, an industrialist who was also arrested in 2008, spent much of his 10-year prison sentence in ill health yet denied the medical treatment he needed. He was released in 2018 alongside the other members of the former Bahá’í leadership group.
Mahvash Sabet, Fariba Kamalabadi, and Afif Naemi are symbols of resilience in Iran, renowned across the world for their courage as prisoners of conscience, and no one will believe the Iranian government’s excuses for attacking a helpless, peaceful community. But this unrelenting and escalating psychological warfare sets the stage for added persecution of the Bahá’ís in the weeks and months ahead.
Up to 200 Iranian government and local agents have sealed off the village of Roushankouh, in Mazandaran province, where a large number of Baháʼís live, and are using heavy earthmoving equipment to demolish their homes.
Roads into and out of the village have been blocked.
Anyone who tried to challenge the agents were arrested and handcuffed.
Agents have confiscated the mobile devices of those present and prohibited filming.
Neighbors have been warned to stay in their homes and barred from filming or photographing.
Four homes that were under construction have already been destroyed.
The authorities are installing robust metal fences to restrict access of the Baháʼís to their own homes.
The Baháʼís in Roushankouh have been targeted many times in the past with land confiscations and home demolitions. But this move follows weeks of intensifying persecution of the Baháʼís.
These raids, detentions, and land grabbing came days after 20 Bahá'ís in Shiraz, Tehran, Yazd, and Bojnourd were arrested, jailed or subjected to home searches and business closures, and less than a month since 44 others across Iran were also detained, arraigned, or imprisoned. Twenty-six individuals among the 44, who were in Shiraz, were sentenced to a combined total of 85 years in prison, some of which will result in children being separated from their parents. Collectively, these actions present clear evidence of the authorities’ aim of destroying the Bahá’í community as a viable entity in Iran.
A number of enquiries have been received in which individuals and communities are asking about how they may lend their voices to calling attention to the plight of our co-religionists in Iran to seek the release of prisoners, for charges against them to be dropped, that confiscated properties are returned, and compensation given to individuals whose homes were targetted and destroyed by the authorities. You can raise your voice - through conversations with others and using your personal social media avenues - and raise the call for these dreadful acts of blatant persecution to be immediately stopped. Sending the links for the BWNS articles to others who are not Baháʼís but who may similarly wish to raise their voices, is a useful approach.
The National Spiritual Assembly recognises the deep anxiety and concern of many of the friends here in Aotearoa regarding the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran. It encourages the friends to pray ardently for the safety and well-being of these dear friends, and to arise and share the teachings of the Faith in honour of the friends in Iran, taking full advantage of the freedoms we have here in Aotearoa as compared to what they are experiencing. Your response to the Divine Plan, arising to serve the interests of the Nine Year Plan, is the most fruitful way you can reward the friends in Iran for their suffering.
Any interactions with government or organisations at the national level are planned and implemented by the Office of Public Affairs.
Your personal efforts to share the plight of the Bahá’ís in Iran with your neighbours, colleagues, friends and family will no doubt generate many opportunities for meaningful conversations about the Faith.
Remove not, O Lord, the festal board that hath been spread in Thy Name, and extinguish not the burning flame that hath been kindled by Thine unquenchable fire. Withhold not from flowing that living water of Thine that murmureth with the melody of Thy glory and Thy remembrance, and deprive not Thy servants from the fragrance of Thy sweet savors breathing forth the perfume of Thy love.
Lord! Turn the distressing cares of Thy holy ones into ease, their hardship into comfort, their abasement into glory, their sorrow into blissful joy, O Thou that holdest in Thy grasp the reins of all mankind!
Thou art, verily, the One, the Single, the Mighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
—‘Abdu’l‑Bahá
Feature Image and associated content: Source: Bahá’í World News Service (copyright © Bahá’í International Community)
Three stories about the intensifying persecution of the Baháʼís in Iran can be found on the BWNS website:
