Arrest of a Member of Shiraz City Council on Charges of 'Supporting Bahá'ís'

Reports indicate that Mehdi Hajati, a member of the Shiraz City Council, was arrested on Thursday evening on charges of 'supporting the Bahá'í sect'. According to IRNA, a member of the Shiraz City Council stated that 'Hajati's case had previously been under review in the Shiraz Public and Revolutionary Court'. The arrest of this reformist member of the Shiraz City Council apparently followed his tweet on September 25, in which he wrote: 'For the past ten days, I have tried every avenue to secure the release of two detained Bahá'í friends, but I have not succeeded. Our generation is obliged to strive for reform in judicial procedures and other matters that threaten social justice as long as we stand against foreign enemies.' Meanwhile, a representative from Shiraz in the Parliament criticized the arrest of Mehdi Hajati, stating that Hajati had stood against the destruction of historical sites in Shiraz for the development of the Shah Cheragh shrine and had been threatened with legal action. According to ISNA, Bahram Parsayi, the Shiraz representative in Parliament, said, 'The opinion of a city council member should not provoke such a reaction. This is concerning in the current situation and causes public unrest. We must consider justice and wisdom in our responses.' He added: 'Unfortunately, sometimes there is no action taken against a blatant crime like the destruction of heritage and national sites occurring in Shiraz, yet a city council member is arrested for his tweet, which is not in the interest of national interests and the cohesion of the country.' The Shiraz representative emphasized that Hajati had been pursuing the destruction of heritage sites in the city and had been threatened multiple times for this pursuit. Mehdi Hajati had previously protested the destruction of historical homes during the Shah Cheragh shrine development project. Last December, he told ILNA that according to the development plan for the Shah Cheragh shrine, which aims to connect it to Seyyed Alaeddin Hossein, the management of Shah Cheragh intends to demolish 57 hectares of land between these two shrines, but due to the presence of several historical homes in this area, civil society organizations opposed this issue. According to him, following opposition to this plan, two historical homes, Salimi and Montaseri, which are among the historical sites from the Qajar era in Shiraz, were 'demolished overnight'. In a meeting on March 7 of last year, several members of the Shiraz City Council protested the destruction of historical homes. According to IRNA, the director-general of the technical office of the Fars governorate stated in the Shiraz City Council meeting on March 7 that the development plan for the Shah Cheragh shrine being implemented is not based on an approved plan, and it is unclear on what basis the management of Shah Cheragh is carrying out these actions.