Extensive searches of Baha'i citizens' homes by security agents

Security agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran have searched the homes of Baha'i citizens in four provinces of Iran. During the searches, the agents confiscated and took away the citizens' computers, laptops, and religious books.

The Islamic Republic's security forces carried out searches of Baha'i citizens' homes in various cities in Iran on Sunday, November 22.

HRANA News Agency, the news agency of the Iranian Human Rights Activists Association, published a report calling this action by security agents an "unprecedented inspection."

The HRANA report states that dozens of Baha'i citizens' homes have been searched by security agents. It is said that the homes of 30 to 50 Baha'i citizens have been searched in at least four provinces: Tehran, Alborz, Isfahan, and Mazandaran.

HRANA continued in its report: "During these inspections, officers confiscated and took away a number of personal belongings of these citizens, including laptops, mobile phones, personal computers, and books related to the Baha'i faith."

The news agency announced that human rights activists in Iran are currently trying to gather information and confirm the names of families whose homes have been searched.

On Sunday, civil activist Mehdi Mahmoudian published on Twitter the names of a number of Baha'i citizens whose homes were searched.

HRANA wrote about the motives of the security officers for conducting this “unprecedented search”: “The reasons for this action of the officers are unknown at the time of writing this report. The officers presented a search warrant when inspecting some of these homes, and the homes of some of these citizens were also searched without a warrant.”

According to unofficial statistics, more than 300,000 Baha'i citizens live in Iran. This is despite the fact that the Islamic Republic does not recognize the Baha'i faith and continuously violates their rights.

Source: DW