Roundup of events concerning Baha'is in Iran

   Ouds Day protests (photc courtesy of (IranNewsNow.com)

As previously reported, the seven Baha'i leaders (Yaran, or Friends) in Iran who have been imprisoned for over a year were scheduled to stand trial before an Islamic court October 18th. As of press time, there has been no news concerning the seven leaders, however,  Iran Press Watch has reported that two more Baha'is have been arrested recently . The Sacramento Baha'i Examiner will continue to update information concerning the Baha'is in Iran as soon as the news becomes available.

Within the past 72 hours, there have been several news stories emerging about the Baha'is living in Iran.  Iran Press Watch has reported that support for Baha'is in Iran has been growing as several events in the United States are being held to raise awareness of the ongoing persecution.

The web site also reports that two Baha'i residents of Mazandaran have been separately tried and convicted by the Revolutionary Court of Babol. The only details available were that 20 year old Baha'i Moshfeq Samandari was arrested and charged with “propaganda against the regime” and “teaching the Baha’i Faith”. He recieved a sentence of six months in prison and a fine equal to $500 US.  Information regarding the charges against Saman Sabeti of Qa’emshahr were not given, although he was also sentenced to a six month imprisonment.

IPW reports the release of witness statements for  three Iranian cyber-journalists and bloggers who were arrested and detained by Iranian government in 2004 and 2005. The statements were made during interviews conducted by the The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) in 2008 and 2009, and details the journalists' "arrests, detention, torture, forced confessions and eventual convictions".  The full report is available under the title IHRDC Releases Report: Forced Confessions: Targeting Iran's Cyber-Journalists .

The arrest and treatment of many Iranian citizens by their has been revealed in many news sources and social media web sites since the protests of the June 12 Iranian presidential election. While the demonstrations have quieted over the past few months, the news of this treatment, along with the deaths of some of the prisoners, has contributed to outpouring of crowds marching through various cities in Iran on Quds Day.

The last Friday of Ramadan (which fell on September 18th this year) has been designated as Quds (Jerusalem) Day by the Islamic Republic of Iran ever since the Revolution of 1979.  As reported on the website Barnabas Quotidianus, Quds (Qhods or Qods as seen on various social media sites) Day was originally intended to be a recognition of "solidarity with Palestinian rejectionism" (of the Israeli occupation of Gaza), and "protest against the United States" and its ally, Israel.  However, there are reports that the protesters are not gathered for the causes put forth by the Islamic Republic, instead, they have been chanting "down with Russia" (for the Russian support of Ahmadinejad's election as president), and “Not Gaza! Not Lebanon! My life for Iran!”

Updates for the Quds Day protest can be found The Lede (the New York Times News Blog) and on Twitter.com's chat known as #iranelection.

The persecution of Iranian Baha'is, according to Professor Hamid Dabashi (author of the book Iran: A People Interrupted), is not a separate issue from the mounting difficulties faced by their countrymen. As Mr. Dabashi stated in a commentary published on CNN.com:

The fate of Iranian Baha'is is not only a matter of their fundamental civil rights in the context of any republic, Islamic or otherwise. It is the very cornerstone of democratic citizenship without which the Muslim majority of Iranians is denied their constitutional protection. Watch the fate of the Iranian Baha'is carefully.

For more info: Iran News Now