12. Official Position of the Government of Iran towards the Bahá’í Community

12

**Official Position of the Government of Iran towards the Bahá’í Community **

22 November 2001

To selected National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

12.1 The Universal House of Justice has received a copy of a report issued by the Iranian Department of Justice, dated 15 September of this year, which reiterates the official position of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards the Bahá’í community in general and the Bahá’í Institute of Higher Education (BIHE) in particular.

12.2 As you are aware, in 1998 a series of raids on Bahá’í homes was orchestrated in several cities where the BIHE operates, resulting in arrests and the confiscation of property, and dealing a blow to the functioning of the institute’s program of higher education. Following the legal channels available to them, the Bahá’ís submitted an appeal against a 1999 verdict issued by the Chief Special Courts Section 49. This verdict declares that “All equipment and properties related to the operations of the misguided sect used for the purpose of reported educational matters (which were unlawful and illegal) must be surrendered to the Staff of the Executive Command of His Holiness the Imám to be used for religiously approved activities, as necessary.” The 15 September report is signed by the judge of the Supreme Office of Control and Review, Ḥamzih Khalílí, and is in response to the appeal lodged by the Bahá’ís….

12.3 You will also recall that in 1991, a memorandum on “The Bahá’í Question”, issued by the Iranian Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council, and approved by Ayatollah Khamenei, stated clearly the position of the Iranian government towards the Bahá’í community. Under the heading of educational and cultural status, the following provisions were listed:

• They [the Bahá’ís] can be enrolled in schools provided they have not identified themselves as Bahá’ís.
• Preferably, they should be enrolled in schools which have a strong and imposing religious ideology.
• They must be expelled from universities, either in the admission process or during the course of their studies, once it becomes known that they are Bahá’ís.

12.4 The September report documents the fact that the Iranian authorities are actively seeking not only to prevent Bahá’í children from identifying themselves with their Faith and Bahá’í youth from pursuing a higher education, but also to thwart any program which the Bahá’í community devises on its own for the education of its children and youth.

12.5 The United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly called for the emancipation of the Bahá’í community of Iran, and although the Iranian government has been cited as taking positive steps in ameliorating the plight of this beleaguered community, evidence of a change in policy has not been seen. Rather, decisive actions by the authorities underline the established strategy of continued oppression. Only when the Bahá’í community in Iran has been freed from decades of persecution will the Iranian government be able to show that it is committed to the rule of law, and that it respects fundamental human rights….

With** **loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat