Keyvan Rahimian, Imprisoned Bahai Citizen: The Greatest Discrimination is Deprivation of Service for the Welfare of Iran

Keyvan Rahimian, a Bahai citizen imprisoned in Evin Prison, mentioned in a note that the "greatest discrimination" against this religious minority is the deprivation of "service for the prosperity and welfare of Iran." This Bahai virtual university professor criticized the continued deprivation of Bahais in Iran from civil rights such as the right to education, publication of books, confiscation of cemeteries, destruction of graves, as well as the detention and imprisonment of Bahais since the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Mr. Rahimian emphasized in this note, written on the anniversary of his late wife, Fereshteh's birthday, that "the arrest and imprisonment of several Bahais has continued as in the past 45 years, and convictions for membership in the group (Bahai community) are ongoing with the intent to disrupt national security, propaganda against the regime (propagating Bahai teachings), and conspiracy to disrupt national security." This Bahai citizen was arrested on July 18, 2023, at his home in Tehran. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison, 6 years of deprivation of social rights, and a fine of fifty million tomans on charges of "propagating the Bahai faith through holding psychology classes" and "conspiracy against national security." Keyvan Rahimian has denied these charges, calling them "completely incorrect." He stated that he never mentioned the Bahai faith in his psychology classes, and many attendees were unaware of his Bahai identity. In another part of this note, he recalled the obstacles posed by the Islamic Republic's intelligence agencies regarding his daughter, Zhina's, university education, adding, "After 40 years, Bahai youth are still deprived of the right to education as one of the most fundamental citizen rights." This Bahai instructor also wrote that he and his brother, Kamran Rahimian, have been deprived of the right to republish their books and print new ones despite having "legal permission" and "content approval by the Ministry of Culture" since March 2022. He also referred to the "new challenges" for Golestan-e Javid in Tehran, the Bahai cemetery, since the beginning of 2023. Mr. Rahimian explained the arrest of four Bahais in this context and the forced burial of some deceased Bahais in the "section for the deceased in Khavaran cemetery." Furthermore, Afaq Khosravi-Zand, the mother of Keyvan and Kamran Rahimian, is among the Bahai citizens who were buried in Khavaran "against the family's heartfelt intentions." Bahai 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 February 1979 revolution. The repression of Bahais by the Islamic Republic has always faced international protests. Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, expressed serious concern in his recent report on March 18, 2024, about the "continuation of harassment and arbitrary arrests of Bahai community members and the persecution of religious minorities, especially newly converted Christians and Sufis, including the Gonabadi order." The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has also expressed concern about the intensifying pressure on religious minorities in Iran and the Islamic Republic's campaign to arrest Bahais. According to this commission's report, at least about 200 individuals are in the prisons of the Islamic Republic for religious or ideological reasons.