Four Baha’is Released from Shiraz Prison

Iranian authorities released four members of the persecuted Baha'i religious minority on Tuesday, February 8. Faraz Haghighatjoo, Pouya Nowrozi, Massoud Momtaz and Yashar Rasti were released from Adel Abad prison in Shiraz. IranWire has not been able to verify the terms of their release.

A fifth Baha’i citizen, Pouya Sarraf, who has been held at the same prison and has not been able to contact his family since a December 20 phone call, remains in jail. Pouya’s family is concerned for his health and wellbeing. The family says that Sarraf is being pressured to confess to crimes he did not commit.

The Iranian authorities’ crackdown on members of the Baha'i minority has accelerated since July. The clampdown continued even after the eruption of nationwide demonstrations in September, with dozens of arrests reported over the past few weeks.

Baha'is in Iran have faced systematic discrimination and harassment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. More than 200 Baha'is were executed after the Revolution. The Baha’i community also endures arbitrary detention and torture, property confiscations, denial of higher education, denial of economic opportunities, deportations and a constant barrage of official hate speech.

Iran has at least 300,000 Baha’is – making it the country's largest non-Muslim religious minority.

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