{"id":1152,"date":"2008-06-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-06-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/news\/government-statement-on-iranian-bahais-welcomed\/"},"modified":"2017-10-14T04:49:54","modified_gmt":"2017-10-14T04:49:54","slug":"government-statement-on-iranian-bahais-welcomed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/government-statement-on-iranian-bahais-welcomed\/","title":{"rendered":"Government statement on Iranian Baha&apos;is welcomed"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/friends%20in%20iran.jpg\" alt=\"Government statement on Iranian Bahais welcomed\" \/><figcaption>The seven arrested Baha&#8217;i leaders in Iran: Standing L to R: Fariba Kamalabadi, Vahid Tizfahm, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naemi, and Mahvash Sabet Seated L to R: Behrouz Tavakkoli and Saeid Rezaie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A statement by the Australian Government expressing its concern at the arrest of Baha\u2019i leaders in Iran has been welcomed by the Australian Baha\u2019i Community.<\/p>\n<p>The statement, as published in the <em>Sunday Canberra Times<\/em> on 1 June 2008, said that the Government had raised its concerns about the treatment of the Iranian Baha\u2019is with the Iranian Government and would \u201cmonitor the situation closely\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are very concerned by news that six Baha\u2019i leaders were arrested in Iran on 14 May 2008 and that the seventh member of the group, Mrs. Mahvash Sabit, has been in the custody of the Ministry of Intelligence since 5 March 2008,\u201d a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in the statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are deeply concerned by the continuing discrimination and harassment of the Iranian Baha\u2019is on the grounds of their religion &#8211; all persons have the right to adopt and practise a religion of their own choice,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p>Australia now joins with the European Union, Canada and the United States in condemning the recent arrest of the seven members of the \u201cFriends in Iran\u201d group that coordinates the activities of the 300,000 Baha\u2019is in Iran, that country\u2019s biggest religious minority.<\/p>\n<p>The families of those arrested have not heard from or seen them since the arrests. Some close relatives and friends of those arrested live in Australia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Appreciation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Baha\u2019i Community welcomes the Australian Government\u2019s statement, said a spokesperson for the Australian Baha\u2019i Community, Tessa Scrine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe greatly appreciate Australia\u2019s ongoing efforts to promote freedom of religion or belief and to encourage Iran to abide by its international human rights obligations,\u201d Ms Scrine said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are gravely concerned about these arrests which have occurred at a time of mounting persecution of Iranian Baha\u2019is. This persecution, as made clear in the statement by the Australian Government, is based on the grounds of religious belief,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerable<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ms Scrine said the arrests have left the members of the peace-loving, non-violent Baha\u2019i community of Iran more vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe understand that none of the prisoners have been given access to legal counsel, nor has there been any indication that charges have been formally laid against them. This situation understandably raises grave fears for the safety of the prisoners,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Executions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the 1980s, eleven Baha\u2019i leaders disappeared and their bodies never found. Many other Baha\u2019is, including teenage girls, were executed by the authorities.<\/p>\n<p>Iranian government documents made public by a United Nations official have since exposed a plan by the authorities to eliminate the Baha\u2019i community of Iran. Pensions and property have been confiscated, cemeteries bulldozed, shops burnt, school children harassed, and Baha\u2019i youth banned from university.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A statement by the Australian Government expressing its concern at the arrest of Baha\u2019i leaders in Iran has been welcomed by the Australian Baha\u2019i Community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-releases","category-uncategorised"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Government statement on Iranian Baha&amp;apos;is welcomed - Australian Baha&#039;i Community<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/government-statement-on-iranian-bahais-welcomed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government statement on Iranian Baha&amp;apos;is welcomed - 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