USCIRF Condemns Iran’s Religious Persecution of Baha’is

USCIRF Condemns Iran’s Religious Persecution of Baha’is

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) condemns the Iranian government’s recent spate of arrests of Baha’is across the country. Since the beginning of November, Iranian security forces have arrested scores of Baha’is in cities including Hamadan, Mehrshahr, Yazd, Karaj, Alborz, and Tehran. Additionally, the Mashhad Revolutionary Court sentenced a Baha’i man, Zabihi Moghadam, to eight years in prison. These actions are the latest in a series of arrests and sentencings targeting Iran’s Baha’i community.

“Iran’s continued crackdown on Baha’is is alarming and underscores the worsening deterioration of religious freedom conditions in the country,” said USCIRF Commissioner Susie Gelman. “We call on Congress to continue to speak on behalf of persecuted religious minorities in Iran, and to reauthorize the Lautenberg Amendment, a family reunification program providing a legal path for resettlement for Iranian Baha’is and other religious minorities fleeing government persecution.”

Iran’s government considers the Baha’i faith a “deviant sect of Islam” and has increased its persecution of the community amid nation-wide protests that began in September 2022. Its recent arrests have specifically targeted Baha’i women. Three members of Iran’s former Baha’i leadership (Yaran-e-Iran) currently remain in prison despite having served a decade in prison on prior charges: Afif Naimi, Mahvash Sabet, and Fariba Kamalabadi.

“The dreadful and unrelenting targeting of Baha’is by the regime in Iran, particularly after having just marked the one-year anniversary of Masha Amini’s killing, reflects a continued shameless disregard for freedom of religion or belief,” said USCIRF Commissioner Eric Ueland. “The Biden administration should sanction Iranian regime officials responsible for these terrible violations and lead other countries to hold Iranian regime members to account.”

In its 2023 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State redesignate Iran as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations. In April 2023, USCIRF released a report highlighting the sexual and gender based violence against religious freedom protestors in Iran. In May, USCIRF held a hearing on transnational repression and religious freedom, including repression by the government of Iran.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].