Describes the persecution of the Baha’i faith in Iran. Some of the Baha’is were executed in the 1980s for their alleged affiliation or support of the Mojahedin, or “people’s combatants,” which advocated violence. Written at the time when the Baha’is, the largest religious minority in Iran, were suffering the effects of an upsurge in fanaticism and intolerance, this report covers: (1) the origins of the Baha’i religion and development of an independent faith; (2) religious beliefs and practices, as distinct from those of Jews, Christians, and Muslims; (3) the Baha’i emphasis on improving and unifying society and on commingling of secular and spiritual affairs; (4) attitudes toward the Baha’i fueled by fears of political dissent and the common accusation that the Baha’is are either heretical Muslims or falsely claiming to practice a separate religion; (5) political and civil rights; (6) economic discrimination and social persecution involving harassment, confiscation of property, denial of education, and deprivation of means of livelihood; and (7) details of centuries of repression and the international reaction. The situation of the Baha’is is complicated by the fact that observers cannot agree on whether what is happening is the result of official policy or the work of individual fanatics.
