Iranian forces target Baha'i religious minority in post-ceasefire crackdown

Telegraph

21 hours ago

Iranian authorities have begun a sweeping crackdown on members of the Baha'i religious minority.
Since the June 24 ceasefire between Israel and Iran, dozens of Baha'i homes have been targeted in co-ordinated raids carried out by armed intelligence agents, often in the early hours of the morning.
Families in cities across the Islamic Republic have reported masked officers entering their bedrooms, seizing electronic devices, religious texts and personal belongings.
In some cases, parents and children have been detained and taken to undisclosed locations. Religious materials – including prayer books and writings of the Baha'i faith – are being treated as contraband.
The crackdown is so intense that many community members are afraid to speak out about the arrests, fearing their loved ones who are held in prison could face harsher treatment, and even execution.
Shia Islam is Iran's official religion. The constitution recognises some minority faiths like Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism, but not the Baha'i faith, a relatively new religion that was founded in 19th-century Persia, which is now Iran.
Despite having no political organisation or ties to foreign powers, its members are frequently accused of espionage or propaganda activities against the regime.
Since the ceasefire began, authorities have arrested more than 700 people on espionage accusations with at least six already executed by hanging.
But for the Baha'i community, this is more than just a crackdown – it is the latest step in a 46-year effort to eradicate them.
For Alhan Taefi, whose 62-year-old mother, Fariba Kamalabadi, is among Iran's most prominent Baha'i prisoners, the escalation has brought fresh anguish as she watches her mother's deteriorating condition and a wave of arrests sweeping through her community.
'I honestly cannot imagine how she's going to survive seven more years in these conditions,' Ms Taefi told The Telegraph from Manchester.
'I'm sure that if they want to keep her there, there's absolutely no possibility that she'll survive until the end of seven years and come out alive.'
When Israeli missiles struck Evin prison during last month's war, she lost contact with her mother for 48 hours and did not know if she was alive or dead.
'We were completely cut off from them for nearly two days,' Ms Taefi said. 'When she finally managed to call, we learnt they had been transferred to Qarchak prison the day after the missile attack.'
Sixty prisoners, most of whom are elderly, are crammed into a space a quarter of the size of their previous cell.
Her mother now shares a 12-square-metre room with seven other women, surrounded by triple-bunk beds so low the prisoners cannot sit upright.
Ms Taefi explained: 'She told me they have one tiny table and two chairs for eight people.
'They have to take turns – two at a time – to sit and eat their meals, then go back to their beds so the next two can eat. There's literally no room for everyone to stand at once.
'The conditions for prisoners in Qarchak prison are so bad that on the first day my mother called us from Qarchak prison, she said, 'I wish we had died when that missile hit and didn't have to live in these conditions.''
The average age of the women imprisoned in Qarchak, a former livestock facility that has been converted into a detention centre 40 miles south of the Iranian capital, is 57. Many suffer from back pain, neck problems and other ailments that make lying flat for 20 hours a day pure torture.
Ms Taefi said: 'My mother is 62. She told me she can't even climb to the upper bunks because she's afraid of falling.
'So she spends most of the day lying down, which is causing terrible physical problems. I asked my mother today, 'How do you eat?' because the beds they have are triple bunk, and the height isn't very tall, so they can't even sit in them. They have to lie flat.'
Across Iran, the raids have followed the same pattern. In central Baharestan agents ransacked 15 homes, arresting Navid Tashakkor.
In Shiraz, Arman Nikaein and Iman Rahmat Panah were detained. In Northern Qaemshahr, Raquel Ataeian was arrested.
In northern Joybar, armed forces raided a couple's bedroom while they slept. Computer specialist Golriz Nourani, 39, endured her second raid since 2022.
Six intelligence agents stormed Farideh Jaberi's home at 6pm, confiscating everything from laptops to family photographs.
'This is the first time I've heard of arrests like this,' one community member told The Telegraph. 'They never came into bedrooms before. It shows no respect for privacy.'
Crackdown is 'assault on Iranian society'
When asked why Iranian authorities often increase pressure on the Baha'i during times of international distraction, the community member said it has always been this way.
'I think there's always been pressure on the Baha'i community, but it seems like whenever there's a bigger news story, they use that as cover,' he said. 'I think they calculate that when the world's attention is elsewhere, they can act with less scrutiny.'
They believe authorities know the Baha'i community poses no security threat despite decades of espionage accusations.
'I'm sure that it's impossible for them not to know, after all these years, that the Baha'i community is completely innocent and has done nothing illegal,' he added.
'I think it's because the Baha'i community is very peaceful and doesn't resort to violence. Maybe they feel comfortable that they can pressure these people because Baha'is respond with forbearance and patience.'
Ms Kamalabadi has been arrested four times. She spent 10 years in prison before 2017 and was arrested again in 2022.
Mohammad Javad Akbarin, an Iranian religious scholar, said: 'What the Islamic Republic is doing today to our Baha'i fellow citizens is not merely a human rights violation against the Baha'is – it is an assault on Iranian society itself, on its diversity and pluralism.'
As the crackdown intensifies, families like Ms Taefi's face a hard choice: speak out and risk worsening the situation for their loved ones, or stay silent and watch the destruction continue.
'I don't want to say something wrong,' Ms Taefi said. 'But the conditions are terrible for these people. We are asking for my mother and others to be released on bail, or with ankle monitors, or in any way possible – even temporarily – until conditions improve.'