Pressure on Baha'is in Iran; a citizen arrested and transferred to prison in Shiraz

Continuing government pressure on Baha'is in Iran, a Shirazi citizen was arrested after being summoned to the execution branch and transferred to the central prison of Shiraz to serve a six-month sentence. According to the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, Soroush Iqani was sentenced to two years in prison by the Shiraz Revolutionary Court in June this year on charges of 'conspiracy against national security,' which was reduced to six months in the appeals court. Additional penalties for this Baha'i citizen included a two-year travel ban along with passport cancellation for two years and forced exile in the city of Mehriz in Yazd province. Soroush Iqani was arrested in the fall of 2016 by the government forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Shiraz and was temporarily released on bail until the end of the judicial proceedings. The transfer of Soroush Iqani to prison comes less than a week after the sentencing of three Baha'i citizens. The first branch of the Revolutionary Court in Bojnourd sentenced three members of a Baha'i family to prison, fines, and deprivation of social services last week. This court issued prison sentences, fines, and deprivation of social rights for Shoaleh Shahidi and her sons Farhan and Shayan Thanaei. The Baha'i World Community, in a statement, criticized the intensified crackdown by the Islamic Republic on Baha'i citizens in Iran, stating that 'violent and insulting raids on Baha'i homes, arrests, and unfair trials on baseless charges against Baha'is have increased.' The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize the Baha'i faith in its laws, and Baha'is have faced security pressures, arrests, and widespread discrimination for decades. Numerous cases of deprivation of education at universities, destruction of cemeteries, prohibition of employment in government institutions, and closure of businesses are some of the pressures that Baha'is endure in Iran. The United Nations and human rights advocates have repeatedly criticized the 'discrimination' against Baha'is in Iran and called on the officials of the Islamic Republic to adhere to their international commitments regarding the right to freedom of belief and religion. 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.' The Hengaw report on the human rights situation in Iran in 2023 indicates the arrest of over 2,300 citizens and the execution of at least 823 prisoners. One Baha'i citizen was transferred to prison to serve a sentence, and another Baha'i was sentenced to imprisonment.