Heavy Bond Set for Release of Bahai Citizen from Evin Prison

A Bahai citizen residing in Tehran was released from Evin Prison on a bond of 1.2 billion tomans pending trial.

According to Hrana, a website that publishes news on Iran’s human rights situation, Mehrdad Hayrani, a Bahai citizen who was arrested in Ordibehesht, was released from Evin Prison on Sunday, August 21st, after three months of detention by posting the heavy bond.

Mr. Hayrani was arrested by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence at the residence of one of his friends in Karaj. The agents subsequently went to his home and after a search, confiscated his personal belongings, books, and computer. The imposition of a heavy bond for this Bahai citizen comes at a time when his charges have not yet been announced.

In recent months, numerous reports have been published about arrests, deprivation of education, and attacks on Bahai shops in Iran, indicating that pressure on Bahais in Iran continues.

The United States government has strongly condemned the pressures of the Islamic Republic on religious minorities, including Bahais. Among these, Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, in his July 31st speech among Iranians residing in America, while criticizing threats and pressure against minorities, stated that minorities such as Bahais and other religions and beliefs are being suppressed in Iran and they fear that every prayer they say may be their last prayer.

The U.S. State Department, in its annual International Religious Freedom Report regarding the situation of Bahais in Iran, has written that Bahais are subjected to severe harassment and persecution by the government more than any other religious minority in Iran. The government does not recognize them and has deprived them of their political, economic, cultural, and religious rights.

According to the same report, over 1,000 Bahais have been arbitrarily detained over the past ten years.

Source: Voice of America