Mashhad Prosecutor's Office Summons 9 Baha'i Women, Detains One

Human rights sources reported the summoning of 9 Baha'i women in Mashhad and the detention of one of them. On Saturday, August 7, the news agency HRANA, which is affiliated with human rights activists in Iran, published the names of these 9 Baha'i citizens, stating that one of the summoned individuals, named Roya Malakouti, was transferred to Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad after four hours of interrogation. According to this report, a one-month detention order was issued for this Baha'i citizen, while no details about the charges against her have been made public. HRANA reported that Branch 903 of the Mashhad Prosecutor's Office had recently summoned these Baha'i citizens in separate notifications to appear for 'explanations.' The identities of the summoned Baha'i citizens mentioned by this human rights organization are Roya Malakouti, Roya Ghani Azabadi, Shohreh Salakian, Golnoush Nasiri, Azita Foroughi, Noushin Mesbah, Soheila Ahmadi, Farideh Moradi, and Nasim Sabati. HRANA cited an informed source stating that the cases of 8 other citizens will also be addressed in the coming days. At least 9 Baha'i citizens have been arrested and sentenced to prison in recent months, including in Kerman and Tehran. Since the 1979 revolution, Baha'i citizens have faced widespread discrimination, including dismissal from government jobs, confiscation of property, closure of businesses, denial of education, and destruction of cemeteries. According to the annual report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom for the previous year, the repression, violence, discrimination, and social stigmatization of Baha'i citizens by the Iranian government have intensified. Previously, Farhad Sabetan, a spokesperson for the Baha'i community in the United States, stated that the beliefs of Baha'i citizens are the sole reason for their detention by the Iranian government. The research base 'Open Data Iran' has also reported that since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, 'at least 225 Baha'is have been killed directly or indirectly by the Islamic Republic.'