Anisa Samian to Voice of America: The Islamic Republic Accused Me of 'Promoting Bahaism' Through 'Piano Teaching'

Anisa Samian, a Bahai citizen whose family members have been arrested and sentenced to prison and other deprivations, detailed the ruling issued against her mother, Shiva Kashani-Nejad, in an interview with Voice of America. She stated that despite her love for her homeland, she was forced to leave Iran to avoid leaving her young children without guardians. Last week, the third branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Rasht sentenced Shiva Kashani-Nejad and Mojgan Samimi, two Bahai citizens, to imprisonment, fines, and deprivation of social rights. Anisa Samian, the daughter of Shiva Kashani-Nejad, said that both her mother and Ms. Samimi were sentenced to 'two years of imprisonment, five years of deprivation of social rights, and an 80 million tomans fine.' According to her, Ms. Kashani-Nejad was detained for three weeks last July and was temporarily released after the interrogations ended. Simultaneously with the arrest of Shiva Kashani-Nejad, Anisa Samian and her husband, Vasal Momtazi, were sentenced to about 10 years in prison by 'Judge Mehdi Rasakhi' at the Revolutionary Court in Rasht. This Bahai citizen explained that in 2022, 'along with the Women, Life, Freedom uprising, our home was searched while we were only active in the virtual space with our fellow citizens. I was pregnant and had a four-year-old child, and after the search of our home, my husband and I were summoned for interrogation, and when my second child was one month old, we were tried and sentenced to a total of nine and a half years in prison.' Ms. Samian expressed her concern about her children being left without guardians, stating to Voice of America that despite her efforts to at least convert these sentences to house arrest with an ankle monitor or for the couple to serve their sentences one after another so that their children would not be left without guardians, the sentences were 'exactly confirmed in the appeals court and sent to the execution department,' forcing them to 'migrate involuntarily.' She noted the history of pressures on her family, mentioning that her mother, Shiva Kashani-Nejad, and her husband’s father, Behnam Momtazi, were also arrested in 2011, but 'the pressures increased significantly on the Bahai community in 2022,' and 'my husband’s father was arrested again and sentenced to two years in prison.' Anisa Samian, who had previously been a piano teacher in Rasht, said: 'I was accused of promoting Bahaism through teaching piano, while many of my students did not even know I was Bahai.' This Bahai citizen pointed out the history of pressure on Bahais since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, stating: 'Since the Islamic Republic took power in Iran, Bahais have always been under pressure, and we have been pressured and deprived of education since childhood simply because we were born into a Bahai family, and this pressure has always been with us.' She expressed her concerns for her children despite her and her husband’s convictions and several family members, saying: 'When we were sentenced to these heavy sentences, our only concern was the children. Because I did not know what to do with my five-month-old baby who was breastfeeding. I would have to take him to prison and leave my five-year-old son with someone, while my mother was also arrested, and my father-in-law was sentenced to two years in prison, and the family was under so much pressure that we had to leave Iran, even though migration, especially involuntary and forced migration, has its own difficulties.' Anisa Samian stated that she has currently applied for asylum with the Turkish immigration office, emphasizing that despite the lack of sufficient security for refugees, 'stress is always with us.' Bahai citizens have systematically faced execution, widespread social and political discrimination, and illegal actions including arrests and desecration of their cemeteries since the 1979 revolution in Iran. Previously, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed concern over the increased pressure on religious minorities in Iran and the Islamic Republic's campaign to arrest Bahais. This commission has reported that over the past several decades, Islamic Republic officials have systematically targeted Bahais, Christians, Gonabadi Dervishes, Zoroastrians, Yarsanis, Shia and Sunni Muslims, and non-religious individuals for harassment, arrest, long-term imprisonment, exile, or prohibition from participating in political and social activities.