Bahá'í Cemetery in Ahvaz Set on Fire

The Bahá'í World Community announced through a video that the Bahá'í cemetery in Ahvaz has been set on fire, and old trees in the cemetery have also been chopped down. This community reported on Friday, August 26, that this cemetery, which has belonged to Bahá'ís for 110 years, was burned 'solely with the motive of religious persecution.' Simin Fahandej, the representative of the Bahá'í World Community at the United Nations, stated, 'What danger or threat can the dead pose to the Iranian government?' She noted that the persecution of Bahá'ís, including attacks on their cemeteries, has increased in recent years. She also referred to the ongoing pressures on Bahá'í citizens living in Tehran to prevent them from burying their loved ones in the Bahá'í cemetery, mentioning that in recent weeks, the bodies of several Bahá'ís have been kept in the morgue due to the denial of burial rights in this cemetery. Systematic persecution of Bahá'í citizens by the Islamic Republic has continued for the past 45 years, and a new wave of repression against Bahá'í citizens in Iran has begun following the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests.