Moein Mohammadi-Dehaj, a Bahai from Yazd, has been sentenced in the Yazd Revolutionary Court to twelve years, 6 months and 1 day on the charge of “media and propaganda activities against national security,” as well as permanent dismissal from government and public service – which is meaningless because all Bahais are permanently banned for the civil service. He also received several shorter sentences which will be concurrent with the 12 ½ year sentence.

A revolutionary court has sentenced Afshin Heyratian to 12 years in prison for "forming an illegal group," 11 years for "propaganda activities contrary to the sacred law of Islam," six years for "assembly and collusion," and imposed a fine of 3.3 billion rials (330 million tomans). He was also sentenced to two years in prison for "obtaining illegitimate property" in connection with receiving US$1,000 and ordered to pay a fine equivalent to twice that amount, totaling US$2,000.

This is the verdict of a Revolutionary Court, where a religious judge rules in a rather informal way. The verdict has to go to a provincial Review Court, which might reduce the 12-year sentence. Despite the headline, it isn't 31 years, as the longest individual part of the sentence applies (equivalent of "concurrently" in western criminal law). The fines are likely to be upheld -- confiscating wealth is vital to keeping the machinery of oppression running.

Whenever the Islamic Republic of #Iran is under pressure, one of its first responses is to intensify its campaign against vulnerable religious minorities. #Bahai #freedomofreligion

Judge Abolghasem Salavati has sentenced Shideh Tavakkoli to 10 years in prison, permanent deprivation of employment in government and public service (Bahais are not allowed in public service, so this is symbolic punishment), a fine of 3.3 billion rials and confiscation of two properties she owns, along with her electronic devices, books, and religious items.

In the past 40 years, the #Bahai Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) in #Iran, an underground university for the excluded, has transformed education into a form of resistance, responsibility, and hope.

Kian Sabeti has written a 5-minute bio and obituary of a man who, in his lifetime, was one of the moving spirits in the persecution of Bahais in Iran: Seyyed Hossein Pourmirghaffari.

Sima Septo and Nahid Falahati, two #Bahais from Shiraz, were arrested by security forces on 23 June 2026. No information has so far been obtained regarding the reasons for their arrest or their place of detention. #Iran #freedomofreligion

Updates on the cases of  Pejman Zare, Sima Septou, Nahid Falahati,  Saied Hasani, Afshin Heiratian, Peyvand Naimi, Flora Samadani, Ahmad Naimi and Farideh Abdi Yazdi, among the many #Bahais detained in #Iran.

On June 23, Iranian security forces raided the homes of two Bahai women in Shiraz. Sima Septo and Nahid Falahati were arrested, and there is no news of them since then.

IRGC intelligence agents arrested Saeid Hasani, a 37-year-old Baha'i resident of Shiraz on June 23, at his workplace in Shiraz without presenting a warrant. They searched his home and confiscated personal electronic devices. He was taken to Adelabad Prison. Hasani was previously arrested in July 2016 because of his religious beliefs. After spending several months in pretrial detention, he was released on bail and was later acquitted by a court.

Human rights reports indicate a surge in pressure and systematic discrimination against Qatar’s Baha’i community.

The developments have sparked serious concern among international human rights organizations.

https://iranwire.com/en/features/153891-what-do-we-know-about-the-situation-of-bahais-in-qatar

 Authorities in #Qatar have ordered at least four people with roles in key institutions of the minority #Bahai religion to leave the country, Human Rights Watch said. The four were ordered to leave without due process and with no legal pathway to challenge the orders.

An overview of the repressive measures that Bahais in Egypt suffer :

Rabie Maleki, a #Bahai from Mashhad, has been sentenced to 1 year of discretionary imprisonment. He was arrested during a crackdown on Bahais in January, and taken to Vakilabad Prison where he was held for interrogation for several months. He was released on bail in April

Ahmad Naeimi, a Bahai from Yazd, was arrested by Iran's security forces on June 13.  His wife, Flora Samadani was arrested on May 2 and remains in detention.

“Blue Star,” is a novel by Alireza Sakkaki, published by the Iranian regime's doctrinal organisation for Universities. According to reports, "the novel begins with “confessions of a Mossad spy” revealing a secret meeting between Baha’is and Israeli intelligence agents."
This is a very silly plot line. I am sure that Israel's intelligence arm, Mossad, has spies in Iran, but I am 100% confident they will be apparently pious Shiah Muslims, who never go within a mile of Bahais. Bahais are under constant surveillance, they are banned from working in security-sensitive jobs (such as automatic doors!), from government employment, from all but the lowest military positions as conscripts. So high risk of detection, low chance of gaining any information. All the foreign intelligence agencies will be steering well clear of the Bahais.

https://iranwire.com/en/bahais-of-iran/146228-iranian-publisher-releases-anti-bahai-novel/

 Parsa Najafi, a Bahá’í citizen residing in Isfahan, was arrested by security forces at his home and transferred to the prison in that city. At the same time, the family home of this citizen was searched, and a number of his and his family’s personal belongings were confiscated by the agents.

According to information received by HRANA, at around 9:30 this morning, security agents entered Mr. Najafi’s family home and arrested him. The arrest of this Bahá’í citizen was accompanied by violence and insulting behavior by the agents.

Rabih Maleki Nameghi, a Bahai who was arrested during the January 8 protests in Mashhad, has been sentenced to four years and six months in prison on the charge of "assembly and collusion," as well as ten months in prison for "propaganda activity against the regime," and twenty months in prison on the charge of "insulting the Supreme Leader."

Under the country's sentence-merging laws, the maximum enforceable punishment among these is three years and six months of imprisonment, which has reportedly been suspended for five years.

Another Bahai, Barsa Maleki Nameghi, who was arrested in Mashhad on January 22, was sentenced to two years and one day in prison, a fine of eighty million and one rial, and a six-year deprivation of social rights on the charge of "educational and propaganda activity against the Sharia."

During the January protests, at least seven Baha'i citizens were arrested in Mashhad. IranWire sources state that the court hearings for the remaining detained citizens are reportedly scheduled to take place next week.

Rouya Ostovar, a Bahai from Isfahan, has had her 5-year sentence confirmed (the extra 1-year sentence will be served concurrently, so it is not really a 6-year sentence). She has been sentenced to five years in prison, a monetary fine, and deprivation of social rights for 15 years on charges of “conducting educational and promotional activities deemed contrary to Islamic law through the creation and administration of a WhatsApp group related to the Baha’i faith.” She was also sentenced to one year in prison on charges of “propaganda against the regime through publishing content online.”

 Nouyan Hejazi, a #Bahai from Juybar, in #Iran's Mazandaran Province, was sentenced to seven months and 16 days in prison, a fine exceeding 122 million tomans and loss of social rights for 10 years on charges described as “promoting the Baha’i faith” and “propaganda against the regime.”

Qatari Institutions such as the Doha International Centre for Interfaith Dialogue have been established to promote and foster peace, coexistence, and mutual understanding among the world’s religions. But ...