Keyvan Rahimian, Imprisoned Bahá'í Citizen, Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison

Keyvan Rahimian, a Bahá'í citizen imprisoned in Evin, has been sentenced to 9 years in prison, 6 years of deprivation of social rights, and a fine of 50 million tomans. According to a news report published on Wednesday, February 14, on the Instagram page attributed to this Bahá'í teacher, this sentence was issued by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court. According to HRANA, the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, Keyvan Rahimian was sentenced to five years in prison, six years of deprivation of social rights, and a fine of 50 million tomans for the charge of 'educational or promotional activities contrary to or disruptive of Islam,' and to four years in prison for the charge of 'collusion and conspiracy to commit a crime against national security.' If this sentence is upheld in the appeals court, the harsher punishment of five years in prison will be applicable to this 58-year-old Bahá'í citizen. Keyvan Rahimian was arrested on July 18 of this year in Tehran, and his court session was held on January 6. Keyvan Rahimian, a psychology graduate and a professor at the virtual university of Bahá'ís in Iran, had previously been sentenced to 5 years in prison and a fine of 97 million rials for 'collusion and conspiracy against national security.' This Bahá'í citizen was released from Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj after serving his sentence in 2017. According to the report from the 'House of Documents on Bahá'í Persecution in Iran,' Rahim Rahimian, Keyvan Rahimian's father, is among the Bahá'ís executed in the early years of the Islamic Republic, and his body was never returned to his family. Recently, 147 political and civil activists condemned the deprivation of Iranian Bahá'ís of their 'basic human and civil rights' by the Islamic Republic and called for an end to this 'historical shame.' Bahá'í citizens in Iran have systematically faced executions, widespread social and political discrimination, and illegal actions including arbitrary arrests and desecration of their cemeteries since the 1979 revolution. The repression of Bahá'ís by the Islamic Republic has consistently faced international protests. Previously, Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, criticized the 'significant increase' in the harassment of Bahá'ís in Iran. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has also expressed concern over the intensifying pressure on religious minorities in Iran and the Islamic Republic's campaign to arrest Bahá'ís. According to this commission's report, at least about 200 individuals are imprisoned in the Islamic Republic for religious or ideological reasons. The body of Afaq Khosrowizand, a Bahá'í citizen, was buried in Khavaran 'against the heartfelt wishes of the family.' A letter from 14 female political prisoners expressed solidarity with Afaq Khosrowizand's family, stating that her life was 'entirely one of resilience.' The family of Yekta Fahendaj Saadi told Voice of America that more than 50 days have passed since her arrest. Pressure on Bahá'ís in Iran continues; a citizen was arrested in Shiraz and transferred to prison.