Iranian Prosecutor General Warns Those Who “Contact Baha’is”

Source: www.radiofarda.com

Translation by Iran Press Watch

Following continuing attacks on the Baha’is and their human rights supporters, the Prosecutor General of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Muhammad Jafar Montazeri, has warned: “those individuals who contact the followers of this sect… should consider the judicial consequences of their behaviour.”

On the 4^th of June 2016, Tasnim News Agency reported that Mr Montazeri asserted that “glorifying Baha’is is a direct dagger pushing into the heart of the Lord of the Age ¹.” He added that “wisdom does not dictate making them the point of any discussion in society or associating with them.”

In addition, the Prosecutor General mentioned of the Baha’i religion: “it is a deviant movement which was created and nurtured by England and Israel ².”

The caustic attacks of Muhammad Jafar Montazeri against the Baha’i religion and “those who are in touch with them” is the most recent reaction of a senior official of the Islamic Republic. It is in response to the visit of Mrs Faezeh Hashemi with Mrs Fariba Kamalabadi, which recently has spread through social media.

Also on a previous day, Ali Mottahri, Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Parliament, mentioned about the Baha’i religion that “ it is a superstitious sect which was created by colonialism,” and that he was irritated that this Faith “ is not based on rational thinking, hence it should not be free to teach its tenets.”

Senior officials of the Judiciary have previously warned Faezeh Hashemi that they would deal with her accordingly.

Mrs Kamalabadi, is one of the Baha’i community leaders who has been in prison for a long time, and who spent some time with Mrs Hashemi in the same cell.

Mrs Hashemi is the daughter of the Head of the Expediency Discernment Council, who, despite widespread criticism by many government officials, including her father, defended her act of visiting Mrs Fariba Kamalabadi and the need to respect the rights of Baha’i citizens.

Shi’ite Muslim clergy, followed by government officials, are intensely opposed to the Baha’i religion. During the last 37 years many adherents of the Baha’i religion were persecuted or imprisoned in Iran. Followers of the Baha’i Faith have been deprived of many of their civil rights, including admittance into universities.

One of the standard accusations against Baha’is that they are connected to foreign powers and spying on their behalf – in particular the government of Israel. This is because the last resting place of Baha’u’llah, the Baha’i prophet, is located in that country.

The fact of the matter is that Bahah’u’llah was exiled to the city of Akka in the former Palestine under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. After his death, he was interred in the land which subsequently was incorporated into the State of Israel.

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1. This is a direct reference to the Shi’ite “Promised One” – the Mahdi, or “Rightly Guided One” – see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahdi

2. This story is based on misconceptions built around distortions of historical fact, as detailed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_objections_to_the_Baha%27i_Faith