Baha'i International Community "Expresses Deep Concern" Over Increasing Confiscation of Iranian Baha'i Property

The Baha'i International Community "expressed deep concern" on Wednesday, February 17, about the increasing trend of confiscation of the property of Baha'is in Iran, which is being organized and directed by the "Imam's Command Executive Headquarters."

The "Imam's Decree Executive Headquarters" is the largest economic holding company affiliated with the office of the Leader of the Islamic Republic and operates under the supervision of Ali Khamenei.

According to a statement published by the Baha'i International Community News Agency, in the latest example of this trend, the Semnan Provincial Revolutionary Court has ordered the confiscation of the properties of six Baha'i citizens at the request of the "Imam's Command Executive Headquarters."

The announcement echoes remarks made by Diane Ala'i, the representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations in Geneva.

According to Ms. Alaei, the acceleration of the process of confiscating the property of Baha'is in Iran is "a new and very worrying stage in the persecution" of these citizens, which has continued in various forms for more than four decades, since the establishment of the Islamic Republic government.

The representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations stated that recent examples of this trend show that "these repressions are being planned by the highest levels of Iran's leadership."

Dyan Alaei has emphasized that the leaders of the Islamic Republic are increasing their wealth by impoverishing the Baha'is of Iran through the continuous confiscation and seizure of the property of these citizens.

He considered the seizures in Semnan, Mazandaran, Kohgiluyeh, and Boyer Ahmad provinces to be the starting point of a "worse crisis," and said there is a risk that seizures will be carried out more gradually and sporadically from now on, so as not to draw the attention of the international community to the issue.

The representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations called on human rights defenders inside and outside Iran to condemn this "injustice" and demand the immediate cancellation of the rulings issued in favor of the Imam's Executive Order Headquarters.

In mid-December of this year, thirteen plots of agricultural land belonging to Baha'is in the village of Kata in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces were confiscated.

Previously, numerous reports had been published about the destruction of Baha'i families' homes and the seizure of their agricultural land in the village of Roshenkoh in Sari.

Also, on January 13 of this year, the Special Court of Article 49 of the Mazandaran Constitution issued a ruling to confiscate the property of Shaida Tayed, a Baha'i citizen living in Qaemshahr, in favor of the "Imam's Command Executive Headquarters".

Baha'is in Iran face widespread pressure and discrimination. Over the past four decades, there have been numerous reports of Baha'is being arrested, executed, denied university education and livelihood rights, and in some cases even the graves of followers of the faith have been desecrated.

Source: Radio Farda