Further updates of coverage of Bahá’ís in Iran
Here are just a couple more updates about the coverage the situation of the Iranian Bahá’ís is getting. First, the ongoing persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran was tackled at the University of Minnesota’s annual Model UN, where the theme was religious persecution and the right to religion:
[Iranian-born Roya Akhavan-Majid, chairwoman of the mass communications department at St. Cloud State University] said Bahá’ís have been subjected to governmental persecution and discrimination in Iran since the religion’s founding in the mid-1800s, and that the problems might be resurging.
“During the last few months, there have been new and ominous signs the persecution is going to intensify again,” she said.
According to a report from the United Nations on freedom of religion and belief, a document from Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calls for an increase in government surveillance of Bahá’ís and their activities in Iran.
Majid said that because Bahá’ís are against confrontation, they must utilize politics and policy to create change in Iran.
“The only thing Bahá’ís can count on is international opinion,” she said.
Majid said she was glad to see students taking on the issue of religious rights.
“It’s the topic of our time,” she said.
The second piece is a story out of The StarPhoenix in Saskatoon, Canada about a press conference held by the local Bahá’ís where members of the Bahá’í community asked that people educate others about the plight of the Bahá’ís in Iran and put pressure on members of Parliament, the media, and the United Nations to put a stop to the persecution:
His cousin was shot to death, his brother pushed out of his job, and today his nieces and nephews are barred from pursuing higher education. As Baha’is living in Iran, they face daily oppression, which their friends and family in Saskatoon say is only growing.
“I’m worried about my family,” said the Saskatoon Baha’i community member who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He left Iran in 1977 and many of his relatives, including his mother and father, are still in the country.
“They can’t say what’s wrong. We phone and everything is as if it’s OK. But I know,” he said.