Iran announced on Monday (August 1st) that it had arrested several individuals belonging to the state-banned Baha’i religious minority, accusing them of spying in connection with Israel and spreading their faith.
“The Ministry of Intelligence has arrested a number of members of the central core of the Baha’i spy partythe ministry said in a statement. The Baha’is follow the teachings of Bahaullah, born in Iran in 1817, whom they consider a prophet and founder of their faith. The Baha’i community claims to have more than seven million followers worldwide. The Islamic Republic of Iran, where Shiism is the state religion, grants freedom of worship to certain minorities. But followers of the Baha’i Faith are considered heretics and “spieslinked to Israel, a sworn enemy of Tehran, because their historic world headquarters are in Haifa.
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The accused “were directly linked to the Zionist center known as Beit-ol-Adl(the House of Justice), added the text, alluding to the supreme authority of the Baha’i community. They saw each otherentrust the mission” of “spread the Baha’i teachings” and D'”infiltrate educational centers, especially kindergartens across the country“, specified the text. In 2018, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling on Tehran to end the “harassment“, at “bullying“, and “arbitrary arrests and detentionsof religious minorities and to release Baha’is imprisoned for their religious affiliation.
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