Last winter semester (2007/08) 1000 Baha’i students had passed their entrance exams for university. 800 of them were denied entrance because of “incomplete files”. Sholeh is one of them. We hear her story… What made…
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Baha'i Emphasis on the Education of Girls in Iran
Background In their approach to education, Baha’is were at the forefront of educational advances that were occurring in Iran between the end of the 19th and start of the early 20th century. The traditional educational…
IRNA releases CDs on "the misguided sect of Baha'ism"
In yet another attempt to rouse the Iranian populace against the Baha’i Faith, earlier this week (18 January 2009), the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the country’s official national news outlet, announced the release and…
Education: A Historical Commitment of the Baha'is of Iran
While exclusion from education is a grievous wrong in any circumstances, the situation for Iranian Baha’is is compounded by the degree to which the sacred writings of the Baha’i Faith stress the primary importance of…
Why are they Afraid of the Dead?
By Monireh Baradaran Have you read this news? “Last night, at midnight, a number of plain-clothes officers attacked the Baha’i Cemetery in Qa’emshahr with a lorry and a bulldozer; and set out to remove the…
Recent Allegations on Ebadi's daughter being Baha'i
Iranian media outlets have recently made allegations that Shirin Ebadi’s daughter, a former law student, was converted to the Baha’i Faith by McGill law professor and human rights lawyer Payam Akhavan, a move made undoubtedly…
Why are Baha’is “Ritually Impure”?
Grand Ayatollah Siyyid Muhammad-Sadiq Rawhani was asked, “Why do we consider the Baha’is ritually impure?” He issued a religious ruling over his seal on this question and answered: “He is the All-Knowing! Because an infidel…
Discovering the Qur’an
Editor’s Note: In its ongoing efforts to provide a forum for Islamic-Baha’i dialogue, Iran Press Watch is pleased to share the text of “Discovering” [the Qur’an] – The Blackwell Companion to the Qur’an along with…
Understanding Iran
By: Jerrold D. Green, Frederic Wehrey, and Charles Wolf, Jr. Iran remains among the most poorly understood countries in the world and, for most Americans, terra incognita. A small community of American analysts in the…
Destroying Qaemshahr Cemetery – Again
(January 19, 2009) Yesterday around midnight a truck and a bulldozer accompanied by undercover agents stormed the Baha’i cemetery in Qaimshahr. They proceeded to fire shots in the air, and use the heavy equipment to…
Ebadi and a Dangerous Message
As part of the Iranian regime’s confrontation with human rights activists and advocates, the recent harsh attacks on Nobel Peace laurette Shirin Ebadi have made it pay dearly. Silence on the part of many…
Bahai's Living in Iran with No Human Rights
By Wahied Wahdat-Hagh, Die Welt, 12-Dec-2008 Editor’s note: A german translation of this article can be found at http://europeandemocracy.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13278&catid=4&Itemid=22 Universal human rights are being trampled underfoot in the Islamic “Republic” of Iran. In particular, the…
The Annual Report of Human Rights Activists in Iran: The Worrisome Condition of the Iranian Baha’i Community in 2008
Monday, 19 January 2009 Editor’s Note: Given the increasingly difficult situation of Baha’is in Iran, and an increase in the number of arrests, searches and destruction of Baha’i cemeteries, and also the fact that Baha’i…
A New Persian Song from Iran Titled “Imprisoned”
Editor’s Note: As means of providing a forum for fostering artistic expressions of the Baha’i community of Iran, Iran Press Watch is pleased to share the following newly composed song titled “Imprisoned”. The moving words…
Ten Baha'i Families Harassed
14 January 2009 (IPPA), in a coordinated operation, ten families affiliated with the Bahai faith were harassed by Iranian regime security agents, their belongings searched, confiscated and their members arrested and taken away to Evin…
Iran Arrests Ebadi's Former Secretary
TEHRAN (AFP) – The ex-secretary of Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi’s office was arrested for links with an organization of the banned Bahai faith, the Fars news agency reported on Friday. “Jinous Sobhani, a Bahai…