One Arrest and Two Additional Prison Sentences Continue Security Crackdowns on Baha’i Citizens

Reports indicate that as part of an ongoing wave of security operations against Baha’is in Iran, one Baha’i citizen was arrested in Tehran and another was sentenced to prison in Ahvaz.

According to these reports, security forces arrested Sepideh Keshavarzi, a Baha’i citizen residing in Tehran, at her home on the morning of Tuesday, November 20, and took her to an undisclosed location.

The security forces searched her house and took her personal belongings, including her mobile phone and several of her books.

Another report indicates that Matireh Badrnejad and Farjallah Bengale, Baha’i citizens residing in Ahvaz, were each sentenced to 5 years in prison.

The news website Hrana, which publishes human rights news in Iran, reported that these two Baha’i citizens were arrested last March and released on bail in April this year. Their court verdict is subject to appeal.

On Sunday, some news websites reported in separate stories that three Baha’i citizens were arrested in Iran and three other citizens were sentenced to prison.

According to these reports, three Baha’i citizens in Tabriz named Kambiz Mithaghi, Shahryar Khodapanah, and Farzad Bahadri were arrested by security forces on Saturday night and transferred to an undisclosed location.

Among these individuals, Farzad Bahadri had been arrested and tried four years ago.

Simultaneously, three other Baha’i citizens named Naser Bagheri, Faez Bagheri, and Rooha Imani were sentenced to prison by a court in the city of Yazd.

These sentences were discussed on social media. It is said that Naser Bagheri and his son Faez Bagheri, Baha’i citizens residing in Yazd, were sentenced to 9 months and 3 years of punitive detention, respectively. Rooha Imani, a Baha’i citizen from Kerman who was arrested in Yazd in May 2015, was also sentenced to 9 months of punitive detention.

In late October of this year, following widespread arrests of Baha’is in various parts of Iran, Human Rights Watch issued a report titled “Harassment, Persecution and Detention of Baha’is in Iran,” stating that in recent months the arrests of Iranian Baha’is had been increasing, and in just two months alone more than 20 Baha’i citizens were arrested in the cities of Shiraz, Isfahan, and Karaj.

This summer, dozens of Baha’i citizens were also barred from attending university.

The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned violations of the rights of religious minorities and harassment of their followers in Iran.

Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, in a speech last October, characterized the Iranian government as an example of trampling on the rights of religious minorities.

The U.S. State Department also referred in June of this year to violations of freedom of religion and human rights in 2017 in Iran in its annual report on religious freedom.

Source: Voice of America