The systematic state persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran does not stop at 90-year-olds

2023-08-22 06:10:06

180 cases of persecution confirmed against Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, including many aged and sick Bahá’ís

Vienna (OTS) – For more than a year, the Austrian Bahá’í community has been tirelessly warning of the increasing and blatant persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran. Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, a 90-year-old Bahá’í who has been imprisoned for his faith for 10 years and is in poor health, was arrested in Iran on August 13, 2023. This continues a new wave of repression against the Bahá’ís in Iran, which has led to more than 180 persecutions of this religious community in recent weeks.

The Bahá’í are the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran and have been systematically persecuted since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Mr Khanjani was detained along with his daughter Maria Khanjani. He was previously imprisoned from 2008 to 2018 for his membership of the unofficial governing body of Bahá’ís in Iran, known as the Yaran.

His arrest comes days after confirmation of the 10-year prison sentences against two Bahá’í women and former Yaran members, PEN-Austria honorary member Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, who were arrested on July 31, 2022. Mahvash Sabet, 70, suffers from serious health problems and has been transferred from prison to hospital several times over the past year. A fourth Yaran member, Afif Naimi, who also has health problems and was arrested a year ago, has recently been sentenced to seven years in prison. In a resolution of December 15, 2022, the Austrian Parliament condemned the Iranian government’s systematic persecution of Bahá’ís.

“The cruelty towards the Bahá’ís of Iran knows no bounds. The arrest of a 90-year-old man and other ailing individuals who have already spent 10 years in prison for their beliefs demonstrates the government’s desperate attempt to continue its futile efforts to destroy the Bahá’í community in Iran.”says Isma Forghani, Human Rights Commissioner for the Bahá’í community in Austria. “No one who feels the slightest commitment to the principle of justice can see as anything but a gross and scandalous miscarriage of justice, a 90-year-old man who has already suffered the most severe persecution for his beliefs, without the slightest evidence or charge in jail.”

These new arrests bring the number of Bahá’ís who have been arrested or imprisoned in recent weeks to almost 60. During the same period, more than 26 Bahá’ís have been sentenced to prison terms that can be served at any time. In addition, 18 Bahá’ís were interrogated. Authorities reportedly sealed 59 Bahá’í businesses and ransacked the homes of nine other Bahá’ís. In addition, many Bahá’ís continue to be prevented from burying their loved ones in the Bahá’í Cemetery.

“The Iranian government, having seen the unprecedented global support for the Bahá’í community following the #OurStoryIsOne campaign and the Bahá’í community’s efforts to call for unity among all groups, is now desperate to eradicate the community by targeting attacking the elderly and sick and intensifying their persecution”, Isma Forghani continues. “If Iran can learn anything from the atrocities of the past 40 years, it is that the continued persecution of Bahá’ís has proven counterproductive in raising awareness of the situation of Bahá’ís worldwide, in encouraging solidarity between Bahá’í í community and the general population of Iran and has proved to the international community the innocence of the Bahá’ís in the face of unrelenting oppression”.