In anticipation of the upcoming trial of the seven former leaders of the Baha’i community of Iran, known as the Yaran, meaning friends, Iran Press Watch is pleased to publish the following short biographical profiles…
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Sunday Editorial on the Upcoming Trial
After more than a year of incarceration, the situation of the former leaders (Yaran, meaning “friends”) of the Baha’i community of Iran appears to be of profound concern. According to various reports, the seven former…
An Iranian Cleric Protests Trial of Yaran (part 2)
Editor’s Note: For those interested in the original of this seminal essay, please consult the Persian page of Iran Press Watch (here). In response to the repeated questions and enquiries of his followers as to…
In Support of the Baha’is of Iran
Editor’s Note: Prof Abbas Milani is Director of Iranian Studies at Stanford, where he is the co-director of the Iran Democracy Project. Following if the text of Dr. Abbas Milani’s speech at the Herbst Theater…
An Iranian Cleric Protests Trial of Yaran (part 1)
Editor’s Note: Hojjatoleslam Hasan Yousefi Eshkevari (b.1950) is an Iranian cleric, researcher, journalist and reformist. He has been described as “an active supporter of the revolution” who became “an outspoken and influential critic of the…
Baha’i Arrested in Sari
According to Human Rights Activists News Agency, on Tuesday, August 4, Anvar Moslemi (http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/3934), one of the Baha’is of Sari, was arrested at his house and taken to an unknown location. On that day, a…
From the Editor’s Desk
Recently a talk by Mrs. Malek-Afagh Davudi, the widow of the former member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran, Prof ‘Ali-Murad Davudi, who disappeared on November 11, 1979, and is presumed killed, was published…
Widespread Destruction of Baha’i Properties in Semnan
Editor’s Note: Semnan continues to be among the foremost anti-Baha’i hotbeds in Iran. Hardly a day passes that the Baha’is of that region are not subjected to another form of persecution, vandalism, and harm. This…
Atrocious Acts in Prisons
Editor’s Note: Though the mission of Iran Press Watch is primarily to document atrocities inflicted against the Baha’i community of Iran, it is recognized that the human rights of all Iranians – indeed all the…
Authorities tighten grip on Christians as unrest roils
Amid a violent crackdown on protestors and a purge of opponents within the Iranian government, more than 30 Christians were arrested in the last two weeks near Tehran and in the northern city of Rasht. …
Due process ignored as trial date is set for Iranian Baha'i prisoners
GENEVA — In yet another example of the denial to Baha’is in Iran of their rights to justice, including due process, judicial officials have reportedly set next Tuesday as the trial date for seven imprisoned…
A Baha’i Woman and her Son Arrested in Mazandran
Security forces in the city of Sari detained a mother and her son from one of the villages surrounding this city. In the afternoon of July 28, nine Intelligence agents raided the residence of…
Abdu’l-Baha on Baha’i Persecutions in 1903 (part 7)
Editor’s Note: This is the final instalment in Abdu’l-Baha’s remarkable report about the persecution of the Baha’is in Isfahan, Yazd and the surrounding areas. Previous segments are available at: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…
Abdu’l-Baha on Baha’i Persecutions in 1903 (part 6)
In short, the last information from Yazd, conveyed by the illustrious Siyyid Mahdi Afnan, the offshoot of the Divine Lote Tree, is as follows: The number of the martyrs has reached one hundred and seventy…
Iran: Religious Minority Groups
Approximately 89% of Iranians are Shia Muslims.[13] The rest, including Baha’i, Christian, Zoroastrian, Sunni Muslim, and Jewish communities, constitute around 11%. Despite their popularity in the country, the total membership of Sufi groups in the…
Helping the hidden victims of persecution in Iran
By Michael Boren Simin Ziaie flips through the pages of 215 men, women and teenagers. Their faces represent multitudes of families and personalities. One is a 17-year-old girl who taught Sunday school, another an educator,…
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