Baha'is Arrested in Karaj, Semnan and Shiraz

Iran Press Watch has learned of several disturbing developments throughout Iran in the past two days:

Karaj

• At dawn on Sunday, April 26, 2009, several agents of Tehran’s branch of the Ministry of Intelligence along with one of their counterparts in Karaj’s branch arrested Shahram Safajoo, a Baha’i resident of Faz-4 in Mehr-Shahr district of Karaj.  This arrest took place at 6:30 AM when Mr. Safajoo was leaving his home for work in Tehran.  It appears that the security agents had been waiting for him outside of his residence.
• After Mr. Safajoo was seized, agents went into the house with him and searched the entire dwelling, which resulted in total disarray of the residence’s furnishing.  Agents confiscated all mobile devices, books, papers, CDs related to the Baha’i Faith, 2 laptops, and everyone’s passports.
• They took Mr. Safajoo to an unknown destination, but when the family inquired after him, the Ministry reported that the prisoner was still incarcerated in Karaj’s facility and had not been taken to Tehran.

Semnan

• Earlier today, Monday April 27, Mr. Siyamak Iqani and Mrs. Susan Tebyanian-Jabbari were arrested.

Shiraz

• On Wednesday, April 8, the Ministry of Intelligence called the residence of Mr. Vahdat Dana in Shiraz and instructed his wife to advise Mr. Dana that next morning he needed to present himself at the Ministry’s branch office in Shiraz.  Mrs. Dana refused to comply and insisted that a written notice must be sent from the judiciary.
• On April 12, when Mr. Dana was leaving his residence for work, he was confronted by the agents of the Ministry of Intelligence who asked him to accompany them to the prison facility of the Ministry, known as Pelak 100.  Mr. Dana insisted on seeing a warrant issued by a judge for his arrest.  The agents instead produced a handwritten document which included the phrase, “Individuals of interest may be investigated and arrested.”  Mr. Dana persisted that an order specifying his name should be produced, which the agents had none.
• When the agents left, Mr. Dana immediately wrote a letter to Hojjatu’l-Islam Musavi-Tabar, the deputy revolutionary prosecutor asking him to clarify the case against him.  In response, Mr. Musavi-Tabar instructed, “If the agents are able to produce a warrant, then you must accompany them.”
• At 12:30 PM on Saturday, April 25, the agents returned to the residence of Mr. Dana and instructed his wife to call her husband and to tell him that he should immediately return home.  The agents waited outside for Mr. Dana to arrive.  When Mr. Dana arrived, they produced a warrant against him issued by a judge named Rezaei-Dadyar, in branch 10 of judiciary.  They took Mr. Dana with them.
• In both instants, the agents were respectful and professional.
• However, it should be noted that Mr. Dana has serious heart conditions and has previously suffered a heart attack.  He also suffers from kidney ailment and complications, which makes his incarceration extremely worrisome.

[Source: http://bab.blogfa.com/.  Translation by Iran Press Watch.]