Expulsion of Eight Baha'i Students from University

Morteza Ismailpour, the director of Baha'i News, told Radio Farda on Tuesday, "Recently, eight Baha'i students were expelled from university due to their religious beliefs." According to the Baha'i News website, "In January 2017, six Baha'i citizens studying at the Islamic Azad University of Roudehen were expelled from the university for being followers of the Baha'i faith." The site reports that Sana Horbakht, one of the students deprived of education, was able to enter the Islamic Azad University in 2015 after participating in the national entrance exam and was enrolled in the architecture program. However, on December 29, she discovered that her account, along with five other Baha'i citizens at the university, had been closed. Ismailpour adds that Mayedeh Al-Sadat Hosseini Rad from the non-profit Eram University in Shiraz and Dorna Ismaili, a Baha'i citizen from Isfahan University, were also expelled due to their Baha'i beliefs. The Islamic Republic officials impose strict measures against Baha'i citizens, who are deprived of many civil and social rights, including the right to education. More than two thousand Baha'is inside and outside Iran, along with several human rights activists and former student activists, wrote a letter to Hassan Rouhani, the President of the Islamic Republic, demanding conditions for Baha'i citizens to continue their education in Iran. The signatories of this letter, published on November 11, pointed out that the deprivation of Baha'i citizens from entering universities occurs under the pretext of "file deficiencies" and stated that this deprivation is "due to personal religious beliefs and a series of oppressions imposed on the Baha'i community in Iran." According to the Baha'i News website, on November 8, more than a hundred shops belonging to Baha'is across Iran, including in the cities of Sari, Qaem Shahr, and Bandar Abbas, were sealed by Iranian authorities.