Iranian authorities arrest 10 Bahai women in "horrific" raids

Shafaq News / Iranian authorities arrested 10 Bahai women during a series of "horrific" home raids, according to the Bahai International Community.

The organization revealed that security forces carried out the arrests "without legal warrants or prior notifications," entering homes by climbing walls or posing as utility workers. The detained women were subjected to "humiliating and painful" searches, the organization reported.

The charges against the women accuse them of engaging in "deviant" educational and propaganda activities, acts Iranian authorities claim to contradict Islamic law. However, Simin Fahandej, the Bahai representative to the United Nations in Geneva, dismissed the accusations, stating that "the alleged crime is merely serving their local communities."

The Iranian authorities have not commented on the matter until now.

This comes amid the case of Mahvash Sabet, a 71-year-old Bahai writer and poet, who recently underwent open-heart surgery but faces a potential return to prison to complete her sentence.

Sabet was sentenced to 10 years in December 2022 alongside another prominent Bahai figure, Fariba Kamalabadi, and has been repeatedly denied proper medical care during her imprisonment, according to Bahais de France. Her lawyer, Chirinne Ardakani, criticized Iranian authorities for "violating fundamental rights" and employing a "strategy of attrition and slow death."

Human Rights organizations expressed concerns over the Iranian authorities dealing with minorities including the Bahai community. According to the United Nations, at least 70 Bahais are currently detained or serving prison sentences in Iran, with over 1,200 facing legal proceedings or convictions. Human Rights Watch has classified this ongoing repression as "a crime against humanity" since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.