The Disappearance of Bahá'í Citizens' Bodies in Tehran After Delivery to Behesht Zahra

Radio Farda has learned that due to the pressure from the Ministry of Intelligence on Bahá'í citizens regarding the burial of the bodies of followers of this faith in Tehran's cemetery, "the fate of the bodies of some Bahá'í citizens is unknown." Informed sources told Radio Farda that some Bahá'í citizens have been "handing over the bodies of their loved ones to Behesht Zahra for over three months, and after that, they do not know what happens." In one case, the body of a Bahá'í woman named Rahimian was delivered to Behesht Zahra just days before Nowruz 1403, and to this day, her family has not been informed about the status of her body. Official documents from Behesht Zahra also do not clarify whether this Bahá'í citizen's body has been buried or is in a morgue. In this ongoing situation, Masoud Momeni, a representative of the Ministry of Intelligence at the Bahá'í cemetery known as Golestan-e Javid, on Friday, July 8, prevented the burial of another Bahá'í citizen named Nasratollah Ehsani "despite having a burial permit" in this cemetery. The number of missing bodies during this period is unclear, but according to reports, some Bahá'í citizens have managed to bury their relatives in the land of this cemetery, which belongs to the Bahá'í community, by "paying an amount of 14 million tomans" to Mr. Momeni. Previously, Radio Farda reported that the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence had forced these citizens to bury their deceased in a section of the Khavaran mass grave by digging several new graves since the beginning of last year. The Khavaran cemetery is the site of mass graves for the victims of the summer 1988 executions, located within the old area of the Bahá'í cemetery in Tehran, Golestan-e Javid. According to the Bahá'í community, despite the fact that the land of the Bahá'í cemetery in Tehran belongs to this community, an agent of the Ministry of Intelligence who identifies himself as "Masoud Momeni" has demanded a "large sum" for the burial of Bahá'ís in the land of this cemetery. In this context, Shadi Shahidzadeh, Mansour Amini, Valiollah Ghadamiyan, and Attaollah Zafar, Bahá'í citizens, were arrested in May of this year in connection with this cemetery. The 26th branch of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced each of these four to five years of imprisonment in July of this year, and they are currently serving their sentences.