Five Weeks of Uncertainty in Detention Center of Shiraz; The Charges Against Yekta Fahandj Saadi Remain Unclear

The news agency HRANA reported the continued detention of Yekta Fahandj Saadi, a Baha'i citizen, by the Shiraz Intelligence Department, noting that five weeks after her arrest, she remains in uncertainty. According to the report, Ms. Fahandj Saadi has only had the opportunity for a short phone call once during this period. In that phone call with her family, she stated that she is still being held in the Shiraz Intelligence Department detention center known as Plaque 100. Yekta Fahandj Saadi was arrested on December 18 by the security forces of the Islamic Republic at her home in Shiraz and then transferred to the detention center of the Intelligence Department in that city. The reasons for her arrest and the charges against her are still unknown. Baha'is, who are the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran, have systematically faced persecution since the Islamic Revolution of February 1979. According to the Open Database of Iran, at least 225 Baha'is have been killed directly or indirectly by the Islamic Republic since its establishment. According to the annual report on 'International Religious Freedom' for the year 2022 prepared by the U.S. Department of State's Office of International Religious Freedom, the repression, violence, discrimination, and social stigmatization against Baha'i community members in Iran have intensified. The request for a retrial by Sanaz Tafazoli, a imprisoned Baha'i citizen, was rejected by the Supreme Court. Pressure on Baha'is in Iran continues; one citizen was arrested and transferred to prison in Shiraz, and three Baha'i citizens in Bojnourd were sentenced to prison and fines. Dozens of political and civil activists condemned the actions of the 'Velayat Government' in depriving Baha'is in Iran of their 'basic rights.'