Land Confiscation and Mass Displacement of Baha’is in Iran

Recent rulings decided that all properties belonging to Baha’is in the village of Ivel—some of which they have owned since the mid-19th century—be confiscated on the basis that Baha’is have “a perverse ideology” and therefore have no “legitimacy in their ownership” of any property.

Overview

In late 2020, two Iranian courts issued orders that declared ownership of lands by 27 Baha’is in the village of Ivel (pron. ee-vell) to be illegal. The court documents indicate that the confiscation of their land is due to their religious beliefs. These decisions followed decades of persecution against the Baha’is of Ivel, hard-working and low-income agricultural workers with no other assets and means of earning a livelihood but their homes and agricultural land.

The land seizures take place within the context of recent escalating raids on Baha’i-owned homes and businesses in Iran. On 22 November 2020, over a hundred government agents raided the shops and homes of dozens of Baha’is in seven cities, and demanded that they hand over their property deeds.

Background

In its earliest days, Ivel was the summer residence for sheep farmers from the surrounding region of Mazandaran. There have been Baha’is in the remote village for more than a century and a half. Indeed, since the years immediately following the establishment of the Baha’i Faith in mid-19th century Iran, Baha’is have comprised about half of Ivel’s total population.

From its inception, the Baha’i community promoted social, economic and cultural developments in Ivel. In addition to the role they played in the area’s agriculture, they established a school at which local children, regardless of their religion, were educated. The Baha’is also built a bath house for use by the villagers, which included modifications to the local reservoir and the introduction of modernizations to improve the facility’s levels of hygiene.

A History of Persecution Through Expulsion and Displacement

Despite the constructive role Baha’is have played in their community, they have experienced a series of persecutions largely characterized by mass expulsion and displacement, and the demolition, bulldozing and confiscation of their properties. In 1941, for example, lives were imperiled when gangs roused local citizens to attack the Baha’is. Baha’is were arrested, severely beaten and subjected to extortion; their houses and belongings were plundered. Finally, they were banished to a village seven kilometres away. When the situation eased some months later, the Baha’is returned to their ancestral homes and farms.

Another incident occurred in June 1983. The Baha’is were forced out of their homes and transported by bus to the nearest major city, Sari. When they arrived, the authorities made them go back. Returning to Ivel, more than 130 of them were imprisoned and held captive in a mosque for three days without any food or water.

Since then, most of the Baha’i homes have remained unoccupied, their residents having fled incidents of violence or as a result of official displacement. Many of the Ivel Baha’is have resided nearby and return to the village only in the summer to plant and harvest their crops and tend to their properties. This required written permission from the police and the court. Baha’is were regularly harassed during their short stays.

In 2007, six of their houses were torched. In 2010, homes belonging to some 50 Baha’i families were demolished and burned. At the time, reports indicated that 90 percent of Baha’i-owned homes had been demolished. The demolitions were part of a long-running campaign to expel Baha’is from the region. The intention of this campaign has been for the Baha’is to never return to Ivel and to take over their lands.

Baha’is have pursued legal remedies for more than three decades, to no avail. Numerous complaints were filed with authorities at all levels but, in general, they were met with indifference. In every case, knowledge of the demolitions or the motive behind them was denied by local government officials. In some cases, the verdicts have been in favour of the Baha’is. However, authorities claimed that there was little they could do to implement the decisions in the face of the opposition Baha’is face from local residents.

Court Decisions