Almost 50 leaders of medical education joined the worldwide protest against the Iranian government's persecution of Baha'i students and educators. Forty-eight Deans and Senior Vice-Presidents - who between them head more than a third of American medical schools - signed an open letter addressed to Iran's representative to the United Nations. "We … urge your government to release the instructors and administrators of BIHE from prison,” the letter said. “We also request that your government extend Baha'i students and faculty in Iran the same rights to education that we offer every student and professor at our institutions regardless of their heritage, religion or country of origin."