Search of the Homes of Five Baha'i Citizens in Qaemshahr

According to human rights sources, agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran have searched the homes of five Baha'i citizens residing in Qaemshahr, Mazandaran province, and confiscated some of their personal belongings. According to HRANA, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, government agents on Tuesday, October 16, first searched the home of Soheil Haqdoust, a Baha'i citizen living in Qaemshahr, and confiscated some of his personal items including books, a tablet, and his mobile phone. Following this, they visited the homes of four other Baha'i citizens named Hossein Fanaiyan, Sohrab Laghai, Ebrahim Laghai, and Favaid Laghai, and after searching their homes, confiscated some of their personal belongings including mobile phones and books. No information has been released regarding the accusations against these citizens or the reasons for the searches of their homes. In recent weeks, at least five Baha'i citizens have been arrested in Yazd and Shiraz. Additionally, the Revolutionary Court of Qaemshahr had previously sentenced fourteen Baha'i citizens to a total of 31 years in prison. According to HRANA, the Revolutionary Court in July of this year sentenced these fourteen Baha'i citizens residing in Qaemshahr, Sari, and Babolsar in Mazandaran province to imprisonment, fines, and confiscation of property for the charge of 'educational or promotional activities contrary to or disruptive to the sacred Sharia of Islam.' The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently expressed concern over the intensification of pressure on religious minorities in Iran and the Islamic Republic's campaign against Baha'is. According to this commission's report, currently, at least about 200 people are in the prisons of the Islamic Republic for religious or ideological reasons. Baha'i citizens in Iran have systematically faced execution, widespread social and political discrimination, and illegal actions including arrests and desecration of their cemeteries since the 1979 revolution.