US State Department Special Advisor: Iranian Regime Should Release All Prisoners of Conscience and Respect Religious Freedom
The State Department's Special Advisor on Religious Minorities in the Middle East, South, and Central Asia criticized the continued persecution of minorities in Iran and called on the Islamic Republic to immediately release all prisoners of conscience and respect religious freedom.
Knox Times said at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) meeting in Washington on Tuesday, May 3, that the US State Department is documenting all cases of persecution of minorities in Iran, from the house arrest of the Dervish leader to the imprisonment of Christian converts, the deprivation of Baha'is from education and work, and the state promotion of anti-Semitism.
At this meeting, Mr. Thames presented a list of violations of religious freedom in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
He said: “As for the Iranian Jewish community, it must be said that the Iranian regime actively practices anti-Semitism in its domestic policies and attempts to export it. The Iranian regime suppresses its Baha’i citizens to an extent that is comparable to the treatment of this minority anywhere in the world. According to statistics, as of just two months ago, seventy Baha’is were still imprisoned in Iranian prisons simply for being Baha’is. The US State Department has been documenting these issues continuously. Namely, the constant verbal attacks against Baha’is, the closure of their businesses, and the denial of basic services.”
The Jewish community in Iran is estimated to be between 15,000 and 20,000. The Islamic Republic does not recognize the existence of Israel, and tolerates and promotes anti-Semitic statements.
The US State Department official addressed the situation of Dervishes in Iran, who have been persecuted by the Islamic Republic since the winter of 2017.
“The Iranian regime has imprisoned hundreds of Gonabadi Dervishes on trumped-up charges,” he said. “Their 92-year-old leader, Dr. Nourollah Tabandeh, is under house arrest. According to Human Rights Watch, the crackdown on the Dervishes is one of the most widespread crackdowns on a religious minority in Iran in the past decade.”
The Nematollahi Gonabadi Dervishes, the largest group of dervishes in Iran, are being persecuted by the government, and in March 2017, Iranian law enforcement surrounded Mr. Tabandeh's home, leading to a clash between a group of protesters and his followers and police officers.
Mr. Timms added that Tehran authorities are persecuting some Christians.
"The regime continues to target evangelical and traditional Christians," he said. In November and December of last year, Iranian security forces arrested a number of Christians, including 114 in one week. The officers raided their home churches because they were concerned about their religious preaching during the Christmas season. Some of these individuals remain in detention.
Converting from Islam to Christianity is a crime in the Islamic Republic.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom released its latest annual report on the state of religious freedom in various countries around the world, including Iran, on Monday, May 29. As in previous years, it included Iran on the list of countries of “particular concern.”
Source: Voice of America
