BAHA’IS OF IRAN
Another Baha’i Arrested In Iran
DECEMBER 11, 2022


The police confiscated his personal electronic devices and transferred him to Adel Abad prison.

Iranian authorities have arrested another member of Iran’s long-persecuted Baha'i religious minority amid an intensified crackdown on the faith.

Armed forces stormed Faraz Haghighatjo's workplace in the southern city of Shiraz Saturday and arrested him, HRANA human rights news agency reported.

The police confiscated his personal electronic devices and transferred him to Adel Abad prison.

The Iranian authorities’ crackdown on members of the Baha'i minority appears to have accelerated since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, in the custody of morality police in September, which triggered the ongoing protests across Iran. The apparent acceleration also follows rising levels of persecution of Baha’is since July 2022.

Since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979, Baha'is in Iran have faced systematic discrimination and harassment, including deportation, restrictions to education, property confiscations, imprisonment, torture and executions.

Baha'is number some 300,000 in Iran and have an estimated five million followers worldwide.

Shia Islam is the state religion in Iran. The constitution recognizes several minority faiths, including Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, but not the Baha'i faith.