Source: www.radiofarda.com
Translation by Iran Press Watch
Radio Farda has learned that agents of the Islamic Republic’s security forces entered a gathering of Baha’is in Isfahan and attempted to extract “forced confessions” from children and teenagers present, including some as young as seven and eight years old.
Informed sources told Radio Farda that on Friday, December 6, security agents entered a garden on the outskirts of Isfahan and “body-searched some Baha’i children and tried to obtain forced confessions from them in front of cameras and in writing in a separate room individually.”
Upon entering the garden, the agents reportedly placed guns to the heads of some teenagers, handcuffed them, and forced them to lie on the ground. As a result, one of the teenagers temporarily “lost their ability to speak.”
A few days after this incident, security agencies contacted some of the teenagers who were present and coerced them into “spying on Baha’is for intelligence organizations.”
According to informed sources, the agents first used drones to surveil the garden, where approximately 40 Baha’i citizens and families were gathered. They then entered the garden with intimidation and armed threats.
Some of the agents reportedly “wore cameras on their foreheads” and filmed all stages of their entry and the forced confessions with at least one handheld camera as well.
When entering, the security agents presented a judicial warrant authorizing “entry to the garden” and “seizure of electronic and luxury items.”
Accordingly, the agents confiscated mobile phones, laptops, and other valuable items such as watches, while refraining from taking other belongings.
Additionally, Arshia Behin-Ayin, a Baha’i citizen present at the gathering, was arrested and transferred to Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan.
In recent years, especially following the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, pressure on Baha’i citizens in Iran has increased significantly.
Iranian authorities have repeatedly labeled Baha’is as “spies and enemies,” and over the past four decades have issued numerous sentences including executions, arrests, imprisonments, denial of education and employment, and the destruction of homes and cemeteries targeting followers of this faith.
Last November, the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation published a detailed report stating that the Islamic Republic’s actions against the followers of this religious minority could be classified as “crimes against humanity.”
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