Baha’is Banned from Higher Education in Iran

HRANA has identified 60 Baha’is this year who sat for the nationwide university entrance exam and were banned from entering the university under the pretext of “document deficiencies.”

The individuals who complained to the National Organization of Educational Testing (NOET), have been threatened by the security apparatus.

Each year, numerous Baha’is participate in the nationwide university entrance examination and get rejected for various reasons by the official website of the NOET, an organization designated for holding the exams and announcing the results.

The enactment of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution of Iran, which ensures that education and culture remain in line with the Islamic teachings, barred Baha’is from taking an occupational position as well as tertiary education. This is at odds with Iran’s laws recognizing the right to education indiscriminately for all citizens.

Such systematic discriminations stand in violation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which both affirm that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.