A copy of a 2006 confidential memo written by Iranian officials confirms that expulsion of Baha’i students from Iranian universities is official government policy, something Iranian authorities have repeatedly denied.
About 200 Baha’i students were enrolled in Iranian universities for the 2006-2007 academic year. It was the first time Baha’is had been admitted to Iran’s institutions of higher education for more than 25 years.
More than half the students – at least 128 – have subsequently been expelled. The newly-obtained memo demonstrates that this is official government policy.
“If Baha’i individuals, at the time of enrolment at university or in the course of their studies, are identified as Baha’is, they must be expelled from university,” states the memo, marked “confidential”, which was addressed by the Central Security Office of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology to 81 universities around the country. The Ministry oversees all state-run universities.
The memo makes a clear reference to the secret 1991 memorandum, signed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which was released to the public in 1993 by a Special Representative of the United Nations. The 1991 memorandum outlines a comprehensive plan to block the development and progress of the Iranian Baha’i community in order to bring about its quiet elimination.
A spokesperson for the Baha’i International Community, Bani Dugal, said that along with other recently received reports and documents, the 2006 memo exposes a duplicitous campaign by Iran to pretend that it does not violate the internationally recognised right to education.
In fact, the Iranian government is actually continuing to implement its secret, long-term plan to prevent Baha’i students from obtaining a university education, Ms Dugal said.
“Coupled with ongoing reports of physical and economic harassment directed against Baha’is of all ages and in all regions of the country, this latest development should serve to remind those who care about human rights that Iran’s 300,000-member Baha’i community remains gravely threatened,” Ms Dugal said.
Read the full story from the Baha’i World News Service.