2023-08-14 08:16:02
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has ordered the arrest of nine members of the Baha’i faith on charges of drug smuggling and financial crimes, state media reported Monday.
The detainees, most of them members of the same family, were accused of smuggling medicine through a network of a dozen pharmacies, according to the state newspaper IRAN. They bribed doctors to send clients to pharmacies and were also involved in money laundering and tax evasion, according to the newspaper.
Iran has outlawed the Baha’i religion, founded in the 1860s by a Persian nobleman considered a prophet by his followers, occasionally arresting and prosecuting members of the group for espionage or security offences.
Muslims consider Muhammad the greatest and last prophet.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of the state, urged Iranians in 2013 to avoid any dealings with the Baha’is. Khamenei’s fatwa, a religious order, added to previous similar fatwas issued by other religious.
The authorities arrested several Baha’i faithful in 2022 on charges of espionage.
Baha’is say they have been persecuted by Shiite clerics in Iran since the founding of their religion, something that has worsened since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
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