Implementing a repetitive project; Islamic Republic arrests Baha'i citizens on charges of "damaging public property"
A Baha'i citizen living in Iran says that in recent days, at least 13 Baha'i citizens have been arrested in the cities of Isfahan, Karaj, and Omidieh in Khuzestan following recent protests.
Payam Vali, speaking to Voice of America on Monday, December 1, said that the arrest of Baha'i citizens in various cities in Iran on charges of "destroying public property" is an old project of the Islamic Republic to give this excuse to the authorities and officials to "arrest and pressure Baha'is, who have been under pressure and discrimination for forty years."
This Baha'i citizen, noting that he was also arrested in Tehran during the 2009 protests along with a number of other Baha'i citizens on charges of "destroying public property," told VOA that Iranian authorities are once again planning to spread such false news in public opinion to instill the idea that Baha'is are the cause of destruction and the leaders of the recent protests in Iran.
Fars News Agency, a media outlet close to the IRGC in Iran, reported on Wednesday, November 10, quoting the Director General of Islamic Propaganda in East Azerbaijan, that a significant number of those arrested in the recent protests were Baha'i citizens living in Iran.
According to Mr. Vali, in recent days, at least 10 Baha'i citizens in Isfahan, 2 other citizens in Omidieh, Khuzestan, and another Baha'i citizen living in Karaj have been arrested by security forces and transferred to unknown locations.
The Islamic Republic's treatment of Baha'i citizens has a long history, and this is not the first time that Baha'i citizens have been arrested on trumped-up charges in various cities in Iran.
According to news published on social media on Friday, December 29, Mehran Allahdadi, Vahideh Niyazman, Shahab Ferdowsian, Nasim Jaberi, Naser Lotfi, Qodous Lotfi, Saghar Manouchehrzadeh, Homa Manouchehrzadeh, and Shahbaz Bashi, Baha'i citizens living in Baharestan, were arrested by security forces from the Isfahan province and transferred to an unknown location.
On Saturday, December 29, Ismail Farzaneh and Bardia Farzaneh, Baha'i citizens living in Omidiyeh County in Khuzestan Province, were also arrested and taken to an unknown location after security forces searched their home and confiscated some of their personal belongings.
According to Payam Vali, Nasser Rajab, a Baha'i citizen living in Gohardasht, Karaj, was also arrested by security forces last week and taken to an unknown location.
On the other hand, the Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners announced in a report on Monday, December 1, that two Baha'i citizens living in Zahedan, Kimia Poursadeghian and Nasim Shoghi, were arrested by security forces on Tuesday, November 19, and transferred to an unknown location.
Following a sudden increase in gasoline prices, Iran witnessed widespread public protests against the Islamic Republic. A day after the protests began, the Islamic Republic almost completely shut down the internet on Saturday night, November 15, and US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus responded to the Iranian regime’s move by saying, “We condemn the efforts to shut down the internet. Let them have their say!”
President Donald Trump, in his first public statement on the protests in Iran, said on Thursday, November 20, that Iran has become so unstable that the regime has shut down the entire internet system so that the good people of Iran cannot speak out about the extreme violence that is taking place inside that country.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during the unveiling of the annual Religious Freedom Report that the repression of Baha'is, Christians, and other religious and religious minorities in Iran continues to be a cause for serious concern.
International human rights organizations and the United States government have repeatedly condemned the persecution and imprisonment of followers of religious minorities in Iran.
Source: Voice of America
