Worrying news from Iran

On January 16th 1979, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, fled his country for Egypt, in the face of increasing domestic turmoil. On February 11th, Ayatollah Khomeini seized power in the Iranian Revolution. The new Islamic Republic of Iran was made official on April 1st, ousting the Shah from power and setting in motion probably the world's largest theocratic state.

The monarchy had not been sympathetic towards the Baha'is. For instance, the Shah and his aides encouraged radical clerics to preach against the Baha'is, resulting in mob attacks on Baha'is and destruction of property. However, this new government was different. The eradication of the Baha'i Faith is one of its guiding principles.

On the 21st of August 1980, all nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran - the democratically elected national governing body for Iran's Baha'is - went missing. Their bodies have never been found. The Iranian Baha'is, not to be trifled with, simply elected a new Assembly. This new assembly saw all but one of its members executed on 27th December 1981. The Iranian government was going for the nerve centre of the Baha'i community. Kill the leaders, and the masses are in disarray. Following more executions of various Baha'is around the country, the Iranian government outlawed all formal Baha'i organisations and institutions in 1983. The Baha'i community responded dutifully by disbanding its National Spritual Assembly, and around 400 local assemblies at localities throughout the country.

Since then, there has been no formal organisation of Baha'is in Iran. The persecution of Baha'is has continued, although in a more subtle manner (after international pressure in the 1980s the executions slowed). See, for example, 54 Baha'is sentenced to jail in Iran and Baha'i cemetery destroyed in Iran.

To see to the minimum needs of Iran's Baha'is, a group was formed called Friends in Iran, consisting of seven people. One of these people, Mrs Mahvash Sabet, was arrested on 5th March this year, and has been held incommunicado - forbidden from speaking to anyone. The other six members of this group were arrested just yesterday, the 14th of March. This sounds very similar to the disappearances and executions of the 80s, and the Baha'i World is very worried.

• Baha'i News World Service story
• Barney Leith's first and second reports on the story.
• Barney's post on the response to this by a human rights group.
• Baha'i Views's coverage
• Another blogger's response