Iran’s crackdown on the Baha’i minority continues. 10 women have been given a total of 90 years in prison plus punishments including fines and travel bans.
According to the Iran International Agency, after reporting to the Isfahan Office of Sentence Enforcement, the 10 Baha’i women were arrested and transferred to Devlet Abad Prison.
The names of the detained women were reported as follows: Yegana Ruhbexshi, Arezu Subhanyan, Shana Shuqifer, Neda Imadi, Neda Bedbexsh, Mujgan Shahrezayi, Perstu Hekim, Negin Khademi, Yegane Agahi, and Behar Latif.
The Iran International Agency said that the women were arrested in October 2023, and one month later, Iran International reported that Ministry of Intelligence agents had threatened their friends, neighbors, and non-Baha’i classmates, warning them that if they did not file complaints against the group or claim they were being coerced by them, they would face legal consequences.
The Bahá’i minority
Bahá’í are believed to be the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran, with the size of the community estimated at 300,000. The Bahá’í faith was founded in Iran in the mid1800s and frames itself as new revelation and continuation of monotheistic, and other, religious traditions that predate it. Followers of the Bahá’í faith have long been labeled as heretics by the clerical establishment in Iran, with state-sanctioned persecution intensifying after the Iranian Revolution of 1979.