At least 12 Baha'i citizens arrested in two Iranian cities
At least 12 Baha’i citizens were arrested in Shiraz and Mashhad. Baha’i citizens in Shiraz were arrested by intelligence agents and transferred to one of the security agency’s detention centers in the city. Their fate is unknown.
HRANA News Agency, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists Association in Iran, reported that on Tuesday evening, April 6, Saeed Ittehad, Qasem Masoumi, Siamak Honrour, Soroush Abadi, Sedighe Aghdasi, and Alia Foroutan, Baha'i citizens living in Shiraz, were arrested by Intelligence Agency agents in their homes and transferred to one of the security agency's detention centers in Shiraz.
During the arrest, intelligence officers searched the homes of these citizens and confiscated their books and electronic devices.
In its report, HRANA suggests that the number of Baha'is detained in Shiraz and other parts of the country is likely to be more than 12.
Behrouz Farzani Ardakani, another Baha'i citizen, was also arrested by security forces in Shiraz a few hours after these arrests and transferred to an unknown location. Mr. Farzani had previously been denied a degree in 2018 due to his religious beliefs and the interference of university security on the pretext that his file had been lost.
Behrouz Farsani Ardakani is a 25% veteran who was held captive in Iraq for more than two years and two months during the Iran-Iraq War.
Four Baha'i citizens sent to Vakilabad prison
According to HRANA, Nika Pakzadan, Sanaz Eshaghi, Nakisa Hajipour, and Nagmeh Zabihian, four Baha'i citizens living in Mashhad, were arrested on Tuesday, April 7, after appearing at the city's courthouse's execution unit and transferred to Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad to serve their sentences.
These citizens were sentenced to one year in prison each by the Mashhad Revolutionary Court in October of last year, and this sentence was directly confirmed by the Court of Appeals of Khorasan Razavi Province.
These four Baha'i citizens were previously arrested by security agents in Mashhad in November 2015.
The Islamic Republic systematically suppresses Iran's Baha'i community, one of the largest religious minorities, and has deprived them of their most basic rights.
The Iranian constitution does not recognize the Baha'i faith, and Baha'is do not enjoy the formal rights of a religious minority. They are prohibited from any activity in the public sphere, and are denied the right to study at universities and to work in government or government-affiliated offices.
Source: DW
