For decades, followers of the Baha'i Faith in Iran were met with gross abuses against their human rights - from being denied access to education and health care, to imprisonment and even unlawful executions.
Created by mideastyouth on 10/06/2008
Last updated: 26/02/13 at 17:53
Tags: Iran Bahai Faith Human rights abuse persecution
Askandrian began serving his term in Semnan prison after being accused of distributing propaganda against the regime.
http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-27-05-24-07/14931-1.html
Fardin Aghsani was arrested at his workplace while intelligence officers arrested his wife Farhnaz Maqdam at their home. They also confiscated books and Baha'i images.
http://wp.me/pNMoJ-1E7
The optician shop of Akbar Por-hoseini was raided without warning by security forces. His entire stock was confiscated, valued at $162,000, and he was charged a $293,000 fine.
http://www.hra-news.org/1389-01-27-05-24-07/14965-1.html
Khoshayar and Shayan Tafazolli and Sina Aqdas-zadeh were arrested after their homes were searched by security forces.
http://sensday.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/two-raids-three-arrests-in-mashhad/
Ms. Hesami was arrested for her connection to BIHE while visiting her husband in prison, despite the fact her trial was still under review. She has a three year old son.
http://sensday.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/faran-hesami-begins-her-sentence/
The Rasekhi family were arrested six months ago and have had their detention extended again without a trial.
http://sensday.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/detention-without-trial-extended-for-3-bahais-of-kerman/
Two Baha’i-owned factories shut down by authorities
http://news.bahai.org/human-rights/iran/semnan/chronology
Mr. Eshtiyagh was arrested in June and has his detention extended twice without a trial or arrest warrant. He is suffering from multiple medical problems.
http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/8636
Mr. Moslemi has been sentenced to one year in Sari prison for anti-regime propaganda, mainly owning Baha'i related CDs and books.
http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/8611
Amongst the detainees, there was a 9 year old child.
http://www.en-hrana.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=532:twenty-one-bahai-citizens-arrested-in-esfahan&catid=13:religious-minorities&Itemid=13
30 houses were raided and 16 leaders arrested in one of the most severe crackdowns against the underground Baha'i university. 9 citizens were shortly released.
http://www.bahairights.org/2011/06/03/iranian-state-attacks-baha%E2%80%99i-institute-for-higher-education/
Mr. Mirza-Golpour had been arrested the previous month and suffered from significant neglect in prison.
Saman Golshani, Mina Ehrari and Peyman Panah were detained after attending a religious meeting.
http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/7427
Ms. Es'haqi and her son in law Mr. Amri also had their homes raided by security forces.
http://persian2english.com/?p=19780
Ms. Abadi is one of the seven former leaders of the Baha’i community, Yarane Iran. She has been in prison since May 2008.
http://persian2english.com/?p=19603
Mr. Khanjani's uncle is one of the 7 Baha'i leaders detained, and the entire Khanjani family has been under immense pressure since then.
http://persian2english.com/?p=9898
Soheil Nasirzadeh, Babak Rouhi, Ezzatollah Ahmadian were summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence in Mashhad, and following interrogations, were asked to sign written declarations that they will not participate in religious gatherings.
Following their refusal to sign such documents, the 3 were warned that 3-year old cases against them will be opened, and they would face imprsonment.
http://hrairan.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=928:567&catid=66:304&Itemid=293
Sorour Sorourian (25 years old) was arrested in Hamadan. Her room was raided and several of her personal belongings were confiscated.
Sorour was released on the following day.
http://www.iranpresswatch.org/2009/04/release-youth/
During a period of a week, the residence of Yahya Hedayaty in Semnan was attacked thrice during the night.
The windows of his home were broken, but legal inquiries made about the incidents were fruitless
http://hrairan.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=930:35&catid=66:304&Itemid=293
After being summoned by the Ministry of Intelligence, Afshin Ehsanian was arrested.
Afshin is one of the 54 youth who were arrested in 2006 for offering classes to underprivileged children.
http://www.iranpresswatch.org/2009/04/afshin-ehsanian/
Sahba Khademi (24 years old) was arrested in Hamedan while driving to her sister's home, and taken to an unknown destination.
Sahba's home had previously been raided, and she had also been summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence
http://www.iranpresswatch.org/2009/04/sahba-khademi/
Three days after their homes were raided, Farhad Maasumi Haleh Hooshmandi were summoned by security agents.
Despite being assured that they would be released on the same day, their families were informed on the 21st of March that their arrest would last for a longer time.
http://hrairan.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=775:547&catid=66:304&Itemid=293
In the early morning hours, unidentified individuals spray-painted slogans and threats on the walls of several Baha'i homes in the city of Semnan.
http://hrairan.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=700:21&catid=66:304&Itemid=293
Agents of the Ministry of Intelligence arrested Pooya Tebyanian (24 years old) from his place of work
http://www.iranpresswatch.org/2009/03/pooya-semnan/
Three medical students from the University of Shahand Tabriz were expelled from university. University officials shut down the students' (Sina Dana, Sama Noorani, and Faraz Vazirzadeh) access to the online university registration and course selection.
Two apartments, belonging to the Pirasteh and Pur-Husayni families, were attacked by Molotov cocktails in Semnan.
After being summoned by Ministry of Intelligence officials, Saman was arrested,
http://hrairan.org/images/SitePhoto/saman-sabeti.jpg
The home of Saman Sabeti, a Baha'i who was in charge of community affairs in Qaemshahr, was raided.
Personal belongings and religious books were confiscated in the process
http://www.bahairights.org/2009/02/15/bahai-detained-in-qaemshahr/
Ministry of Intelligence officials summoned Namya Haghar for questioning, and subsequently arrested him. Currently, no information is avaialable on his whereabouts.
http://hrairan.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=442%3A987&catid=66%3A304&Itemid=293
Homes of 10 Baha'is who are active in the Baha'i community in Mashhad were raided, and two: Ms. Sima Eshraghi and Mr. Jaleed Vahdat were arrested
http://www.bahairights.org/2009/01/28/10-homes-raided-in-mashhad-2-bahais-arrested/
For the third time in a span of a few months, the Baha'i cemetery in Qaemshahr underwent massive destruction.
Undercover agents oversaw the destruction that left the ground completely flattened.
http://www.bahairights.org/2009/01/20/in-pictures-complete-destruction-of-qaemshahr-cemetery/
9 women were arrested by authorities in the city of Qaemshahr. The detained women were: Taraneh Sanai, Shahnaz Sa’adati, Amelia Fanaian, Anisa Fanaian and Farzaneh Ahmadzadegan
8 Baha'is were arrested in the tourist destination of Kish, under charges of teaching the Baha'i Faith.
http://news.trend.az/index.shtml?show=news&newsid=1398189&lang=en
Agents raided several homes during the early morning hours and confiscated several personal belongings. The raids were followed by the arrest of 6 individuals
http://www.bahairights.org/2009/01/15/more-raids-arrests-in-iran/
9 Baha'i students were dismissed from the University of Kerman, on the basis of their religious affiliation
Adel Fanaian and Abbas Nourani, members of the local administrative body of Semnan, and Zaher Eskandarian, a former member, were arrested at their homes.
They had previously been arrested in 2005
http://www.bahairights.org/2009/01/05/three-bahai-administrators-arrested-in-semnan/
After raiding her home and confiscating all Baha'i material, Soha Zamani was detained by security officials. She was released 2 days later on bail.
Badiollah Abolfazli was sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment, after being found guilty of “being an active member of the Bahá’í community”; “teaching Bahaism and being involved in activities against the Islamic Republic”; and “teaching Muslims secretly by providing them with Bahá’í materials”.
5 optical shops owned by Baha'is were forcibly closed by the Public Places Supervision Office. The owners were informed that the Ministry of Health had filed a complaint against the businesses, so they had to be closed. The Ministry of Health denied that it filed such a complaint.
Agents from the Ministry of Intelligence stormed 3 Baha'i homes in Qaemshahr and asked the residents to present themselves before the Ministry.
http://www.bahairights.org/2009/01/07/three-baha%E2%80%99i-families-in-qaemshahr-harassed/
The residence of Peyman Roohi was raided, and all Baha'i material was confiscated.
Over a three day period, 13 Baha'i homes in the city of Semnan, Iran were raided and personal belongings were confiscated. Security agents also cut phone lines and warned Baha'is from informing others about the raids.
The raids resulted in the arrest of Ms. Sahba Fana’ian
http://www.bahairights.org/2008/12/16/bahai-houses-searched-in-iran/
Kamran Jamshid, a cultural activist and book dealer, was arrested and charged with spreading information on the Baha'i Faith.
3 social activists who were offering social and etiquette classes to underprivileged children in the Iranian city of Yasuj were sentenced to 3 years imprisonment. Zolaykha Mosavi, Rohieh Yazdani and Ali-Asgar Ravan-Bakhsh were charged with acting against social security
Anti-Baha'i presentations were given at two high schools in Shiraz. All students from grades 11 and 12, including Baha'is, were obliged to attend; it had been announced that any student not present would have marks deducted.
The Baha’i cemetery in the town of Ghaemshahr faced an intensive destruction where approximately 80% of the graves were destroyed by bulldozers.
http://www.bahairights.org/2008/10/27/desecration-of-cemetery-in-ghaemshahr-iran/
A girl was expelled from high school, after it became known that she is a Baha'i. The school's principal wrote to the Ministry of Education, informing them that the girl was discovered to be a Baha'i, and requested the Ministry to take the necessary actions.
Iranian news agencies reported the launch of a petition calling for the dissolution of all Baha'i institutions in Iran.
http://www.bahairights.org/2008/09/25/petition-against-bahais-islamically-sanctioned/
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