Persecution of the Bahá'í Community

Iranian Bahá'í Leadership (click here for profiles), imprisoned since 14 May 2008

The Bahá'í Question: Cultural Cleansing in Iran (English / Spanish)

Overview

The Bahá'í International Community works to protect the rights of persecuted Bahá'í communities. In Iran, where the Faith continues to be viewed as heretical to Islam, Bahá’ís comprise the largest religious minority. Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Baha’is have been systematically denied access to higher education, employment; and have been subjected to summary arrests and detentions. They have never been able to openly practice their religion. Our Office continues to work to defend the rights of Bahá'ís wherever their freedom to participate and to contribute fully to the life of society is denied.

New Report: Inciting Hatred: Iran’s Media Campaign to Demonize Baha’is
Latest updates on the situation of Baha’is human rights in Iran
Background document (Sept 2011)
Universal Periodic Review (Sept 2011)
List of Bahá'í prisoners in Iran (Sept 2011)

The report – titled "Inciting Hatred: Iran's Media Campaign to Demonize Baha'is" – documents and analyzes more than 400 press and media items between late 2009 and early 2011, which clearly expose Iran's state-sponsored effort to vilify its largest non-Muslim religious minority.

In Focus

Report exposes Iran's media campaign to demonize Baha'is

NEW YORK—21 October 2011— In a wide-ranging media campaign that has gone largely unnoticed outside of Iran, hatred and discrimination are being systematically stirred up against the country's 300,000-member Baha'i minority.

In a report released today, the Baha'i International Community documents and analyzes more than 400 press and media items over a 16-month period, that typify an insidious state-sponsored effort to demonize and vilify Baha'is, using false accusations, inflammatory terminology, and repugnant imagery.

In Depth