Arrest of a Baha'i citizen in Shiraz; Farhad Sabetan: More than 50 Baha'is have been arrested this year

Referring to the arrest of a Baha'i citizen in recent days, a spokesperson for the Baha'i International Community told VOA that more than 100 Baha'i citizens have been arrested in Iran last year and more than 50 this year.

Farhad Sabetan, spokesman for the Baha'i International Community, confirmed in an interview with Voice of America on Tuesday, December 2, the arrest of Pedram Abhar, a Baha'i citizen living in Tehran, by security forces, saying that Mr. Abhar was arrested on Sunday, December 20, on his way from Shiraz to Bushehr and was transferred from Shiraz to Tehran on Tuesday, December 2.

According to Mr. Sabetan, Pedram Abhar's residential home has been searched and he has currently been transferred to an unknown location in Tehran.

Regarding the arrest process, Farhad Sabetan told VOA that on Sunday, the bus on which the Baha’i citizen was traveling to the city of Bushehr stopped briefly. At that time, the bus was surrounded by three unidentified vehicles and at least 13 security officers, who arrested Mr. Abher and transferred him to Shiraz.

He added that after being transferred to Shiraz, Pedram Abhar was first taken to his parents' house. After searching the house and seizing some personal belongings and documents, including his home deed, passport, all books related to the Baha'i community, mobile phone, and laptop, he was finally transferred to a security detention center.

Farhad Sabetan, noting that there is no information available about the reason for the arrest, the charges against him, and the detaining institution of this Baha'i citizen, told VOA that this Baha'i citizen has only been allowed to contact his parents once since his arrest.

The spokesperson for the Baha'i International Community went on to state that the reason for the arrest of Baha'i citizens in Iran was their belief in the Baha'i Faith.

In recent months, Voice of America has published numerous reports of increased pressure on Baha'i citizens, including the demolition of the homes of several Baha'i citizens in the village of Chahardangeh in Sari County, the confiscation of Baha'i citizens' land in Semnan Province, and the arrest of other Baha'i citizens.

Farhad Sabetan says that to date, the Islamic Republic has not provided a specific reason for suppressing and harassing Baha'i citizens in Iran.

Mr. Sabetan added: "The accusations that are always made against Baha'i citizens are baseless accusations that are denied by the Baha'i community, accusations such as disrupting national security, espionage, or illegal gatherings."

According to a spokesperson for the Baha'i International Community, more than 100 Baha'i citizens have been arrested in Iran last year, and more than 50 Baha'i citizens have been arrested so far this year.

He emphasized that Baha'is have not committed any crimes in Iran that are recorded in Iranian civil law, and to date, no evidence has been provided by the Islamic Republic's authorities to show that Baha'i citizens have disrupted the country's security.

As the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran, Baha'is have faced persecution and repression by the Islamic Republic government for the past four decades. Deprivation of university education and government jobs, denial of religious ceremonies, arrest, imprisonment, and execution are among the things that the Baha'i community in Iran has endured over the past four decades.

On July 8 of this year, the Baha'i International Community, in a statement emphasizing the more than four decades of hatred spread by the Islamic Republic of Iran's government against the Baha'is, announced that "government propaganda" against the Baha'is had entered new stages and "its complexity and scale have increased dramatically."