A recent declassification of documents revealing the new policy directives by Iranian officials has come to light, hinting at the intensification of the persecution of the Baha’i people in Iran, one of the non-Muslim religious minorities within the country. The documents, released by the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran and the International Federation for Human Rights, raised reasonable questions over Iran’s abidance with international conventions to maintain freedom of religious beliefs and practice within the country.

Background

Even though the Baha’i faith has Islamic origins, it grew out of the Babi movement which called for social changes within Shi’i Islam. A young Iranian called the Bab started the movement, who claimed that his teachings were a revelation from God and a new manifestation of God would soon come to the world. Baha’u’llah, son of a minister in the government and a member of Iran’s nobility, refused to join a government position and instead joined the Babi movement. In 1850, the Iranian officials killed the Bab, which resulted in public protests and mob violence by his followers, who were then killed. Baha’u’llah was incarcerated in an underground prison in Tehran and then was exiled to Baghdad in 1853. During his exile, Baha’u’llah claimed to be the manifestation of God that the Bab had predicted and announced the establishment of the Baha’i faith, gaining many followers.

The Baha’i faith advocated for socially progressive reforms like gender equality, universal education, cooperation between science and religion, interracial marriage, etc. While Muslims claim prophet Muhammad to be the last and final prophet, the Baha’is recognize the Bab and Baha’u’llah as additional prophets. The Baha’i religion is seen as a religion of the “newer world,” heavily based on the teachings of Baha’u’llah which combined science and religion, and even though the followers of the Babi religion, predecessor of Baha’i faith, were claimed to prepare for “holy war,” Baha’u’llah forbade his followers from the use of holy war to spread the religion, instead advocating for peace and engagement in dialogue with the government. The Iranian Constitutional revolution of 1906 and subsequent drafting of the constitution does not guarantee the freedom of religion and worship, however, over the years the state passed legislation to recognize 3 other religions besides Islam- Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism- giving them the status of “equal citizens” and formal protection under state law. The Baha’is, however, do not enjoy such a status, instead, deemed as “unprotected infidels” according to a report by the UN special rapporteur to Iran; they have been subject to years of oppression and persecution within the country. Iran’s government and national judiciary have been blamed to encourage and carry out crimes like unfair prosecution, economic and social exclusion, arbitrary arrests, destruction of property, and extrajudicial killings against the Baha’is. 

Recent Development

On Sept 21, 2020, the Commission on Ethnicities, Sects, and Religions in the city of Sari organized a meeting with the agenda to “review the latest status of the dervishes and the subversive Baha’i sect,” as per the meeting minutes recently released. Under this Commission meeting, new directives were instructed to the local authorities of the city of Sari to monitor and control the operations of the Baha’i sect, and further implement a new directive to increase surveillance and awareness in educational institutions in the identification and handling of Baha’i students. 

Why does this matter?

While the Baha’i faith has faced many cycles of repression in the country over decades, the 2005 election of Ahmadinejad as president of Iran and subsequent rise of conservative political figures in Iran has suggested the resurgence of the cycle of mass persecution of the Baha’is. The new directives to identify Baha’i students also prompt the institutions to “win them to Islam” as a part of the ongoing crackdown on the group. Despite the agenda being focused on the city of Sari in the northern province of Mazandaran, the meeting was attended by representatives of several important agencies of Iran, including the police, Intelligence Services, Department of Industry, Mines and Commerce, hinting at the possibility of nationalization of this agenda. Wolfgang Kaleck, from the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights in Berlin, commented “this new document appears to show that at the provincial level, at least, far-reaching instructions have been issued on how to enforce the exclusion of Baha'is from public life.”

This is not the first time that the Mazandaran province has issued directives attacking the Baha’i community in Iran. On Oct 30, 2016, they ordered a similar directive to target the Baha’i community on economic fronts; it resulted in the mass closure of shops and businesses owned by Baha’is. In 2020, the Iranian court declared that 27 Baha’i families had illegal ownership of lands in the village of Ivel, Mazandaran, hence confiscating their lands, though court documents indicate that this confiscation had a link to their faith rather than the legality of ownership. In January 2020, Iran officials removed the option of “other religions” from the national identity card application forms, forcing the Baha’i community to either reveal their faith to the government or avoid obtaining national identification, since the Baha’i faith forbids its followers to lie about their religion.