House Of Baha’i Couple Raided Amid Iran Crackdown On Faith

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Source: iranwire.com


Iranian security forces have raided the house of a couple belonging to the long-persecuted Baha’i monitory amid a new wave of harassment against that faith.

Agents of the Ministry of Information stormed the house of Wesal Momtazi and Anisa Samiean in the northern city of Rasht on November 3, and confiscated their phones and laptops, according to a report received by IranWire.

The previous day, security and intelligence forces arrested another Baha’i member, Pouya Sarraf, in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran. He was transferred to an unknown location.

The authorities’ crackdown on members of the Baha’i minority appears to have accelerated after the September 16 death of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police triggered nationwide protests across Iran.

Baha’is number some 300,000 in Iran and have an estimated 5 million followers worldwide.

Shia Islam is the state religion in Iran, but the constitution recognizes a number of minority faiths, including Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, but not the Baha’i faith.

Since the Islamic Republic of Iran was established in 1979, hundreds of Baha’is have been arrested and jailed for their beliefs. At least 200 have been executed, or were arrested and never heard from again.

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