Iran’s Baha’i, Christian facilities targeted by discriminatory policies, CSW tells ‘Post’

FOR IRAN’S Christian community, the postwar crackdown has been particularly severe, with at least 50 members detained by authorities. Here, Iranian Christians take part in the New Year prayer ceremony at a church in Tehran last January.

(photo credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters)

The Islamic Republic has increasingly targeted religious minorities, raiding their facilities and sentencing members to lengthy prison terms on vague charges, an expert from Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) told The Jerusalem Post.

CSW’s Research and Advocacy Officer for the Middle East and North Africa, who can only be identified as “Mena” for security reasons, told the Post that Iran’s legislation targeting so-called “cults” has enabled the regime “to impose a range of punishments, including prison sentences of between two and five years; deprivation of civil rights, such as voting, for up to 15 years; and heavy monetary fines” for engaging in religious practices.

Mena’s comments came amid a renewed crackdown on religious minorities, following the arrest of multiple members of the Baha’i community by regime forces and statements by an official from the Yazd prosecutor’s office in early May announcing the arrest of three Christian leaders accused of running a religious “cult” linked to the “Zionist regime.”

Human rights groups have warned that regime authorities detained dozens of Baha’is in arbitrary arrests, many without charge, and denied them communication with their families or legal counsel

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