Five Baha’i Citizens Arrested in Shiraz
Hrana News Agency – On Tuesday, the 28th of Tir, Niloufar Hosseini, Bahieh Manavipour, Mithaq Manavipour, Elhan Hashemi, and Hanan Hashemi, Baha’i citizens residing in Shiraz, were arrested by security forces and transferred to an unknown location. Officers conducted searches of the homes of these citizens during the arrests.
According to Hrana News Agency, the news outlet of the Human Rights Activists in Iran group, on Tuesday, the 28th of Tir 1401, three Baha’i citizens in Shiraz were arrested by security forces.
The identities of these citizens—Niloufar Hosseini, Bahieh Manavipour, Mithaq Manavipour, Elhan Hashemi, and Hanan Hashemi—have been verified by Hrana.
An informed source regarding the arrest of these citizens told Hrana: “Concurrent with the arrest of these citizens, Mithaq Manavipour’s sister was also summoned to judicial authorities. Furthermore, officers conducted searches of their homes during the arrests.”
As of the time of this report, no information is available regarding the reasons for the arrests or the location where these citizens are being held.
Baha’i citizens in Iran are deprived of freedoms related to religious beliefs. This systematic deprivation occurs despite Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which state that everyone has the right to freedom of religion and to change religion based on conscience, and the freedom to express this belief individually or collectively, publicly or privately.
According to unofficial sources in Iran, there are more than three hundred thousand Baha’is in the country. However, Iran’s Constitution officially recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, and does not recognize the Baha’i religion. For this reason, the rights of Baha’is in Iran have been systematically violated over the years.
Hanan Hashemi, 22 years old; Elhan Hashemi, 18 years old; Bahieh Manavipour, 32 years old; and Mithaq Manavipour, 23 years old, from the Baha’is of Shiraz, were arrested and transferred to an unknown location.
