{"id":1308,"date":"2014-05-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/news\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/"},"modified":"2017-10-14T04:47:54","modified_gmt":"2017-10-14T04:47:54","slug":"australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Foreign Minister expresses \u201cdeep concerns\u201d for Baha\u2019is in Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Julie_Bishop_official_portrait.jpg\" alt=\"Australian Foreign Minister expresses \u201cdeep concerns\u201d for Baha\u2019is in Iran\" \/><figcaption>Australia&#8217;s Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Julie Bishop MP.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop MP has issued a message for an event marking the sixth anniversary of the continuing imprisonment of seven Baha\u2019i leaders in Iran in which she expresses \u201cdeep concerns\u201d about the treatment of Baha\u2019is and others.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn this regrettable occasion, the Australian Government reiterates its deep concerns at the ongoing human rights abuses in Iran, including the treatment of religious minorities such as the Baha\u2019i community,\u201d Ms Bishop said, referring to a statement by Australia to the UN Human Rights Council in March.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn that statement, Australia expressed its concern about the use of the death penalty, ongoing intimidation and arbitrary arrest of human rights defenders, political activists, journalists and lawyers, ongoing curbs on media and the internet, and the ongoing mistreatment of ethnic and religious minorities, including Baha\u2019is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAustralia welcomed the release of seven political leaders last September, but called on Iran to release all prisoners of conscience, including the seven Baha\u2019i leaders whose situations in detention we remember today,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe continue to urge Iran to respect the human rights of all detainees, and to ensure all trials are conducted fairly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The seven received 20 year sentences in sham trials roundly condemned by the international community, including by the United Nations General Assembly, for the absence of evidence of any offence. The Baha\u2019i community, the biggest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran, is the target of an ongoing, systematic campaign of persecution by the clergy-led government.<\/p>\n<p>Issuing her message to be read this week at events in Canberra and Sydney featuring poetry by Mahvash Sabet, one of the imprisoned seven, the Foreign Minister named the individual leaders, most of whom have close relatives in Australia: Afif Naeimi, Behrouz Tavakkoli, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mahvash Sabet, Saeid Rezaie, and Vahid Tizfahm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAustralia will continue to monitor closely the human rights situation in Iran and continue to raise our concerns with Iran, including on freedom of religion, in a way that reflects Australia\u2019s fundamental belief in the universality of human rights,\u201d Ms Bishop said.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for the Australian Baha\u2019i Community, Natalie Mobini, welcomed the message from Ms Bishop.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is enormously comforting to the relatives of the seven and Baha\u2019is generally, that the Foreign Minister has stood up for the human rights of these innocent, admirable people who have committed no crime but rather have devoted their lives to the service of others,&#8221; Dr Mobini said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe hope that the Government of Iran will heed this call, free the seven leaders and call a halt to the persecution of Baha\u2019is in Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For details of poetry event: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bahai.org.au\/NewsMedia\/NewsStories\/ArticleView\/tabid\/72\/ArticleId\/238\/Words-of-imprisoned-poet-to-break-free.aspx\">https:\/\/www.bahai.org.au\/NewsMedia\/NewsStories\/ArticleView\/tabid\/72\/ArticleId\/238\/Words-of-imprisoned-poet-to-break-free.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop MP has issued a message for an event marking the sixth anniversary of the continuing imprisonment of seven Baha\u2019i leaders in Iran in which she expresses \u201cdeep concerns\u201d about the treatment of Baha\u2019is and others.<\/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-1308","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>Australian Foreign Minister expresses \u201cdeep concerns\u201d for Baha\u2019is in Iran - 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\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australian Foreign Minister expresses \u201cdeep concerns\u201d for Baha\u2019is in Iran - Australian Baha&#039;i Community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop MP has issued a message for an event marking the sixth anniversary of the continuing imprisonment of seven Baha\u2019i leaders in Iran in which she expresses \u201cdeep concerns\u201d about the treatment of Baha\u2019is and others.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Australian Baha&#039;i Community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-28T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-10-14T04:47:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Julie_Bishop_official_portrait.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"it-admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"it-admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/\",\"name\":\"Australian Foreign Minister expresses \u201cdeep concerns\u201d for Baha\u2019is in Iran - Australian Baha&#039;i Community\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Julie_Bishop_official_portrait.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-28T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-14T04:47:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/27e40e806cfb1ed651dbd81accc2b48f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Julie_Bishop_official_portrait.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Julie_Bishop_official_portrait.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Australian Foreign Minister expresses \u201cdeep concerns\u201d for Baha\u2019is in Iran\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/\",\"name\":\"Australian Baha&#039;i Community\",\"description\":\"The official website of the Baha&#039;is of Australia\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/27e40e806cfb1ed651dbd81accc2b48f\",\"name\":\"it-admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0defdebd8063ec2ce723629dbfefdb5171c04bb384ad103a85d694485f46ddbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0defdebd8063ec2ce723629dbfefdb5171c04bb384ad103a85d694485f46ddbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"it-admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/author\/it-admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Australian Foreign Minister expresses \u201cdeep concerns\u201d for Baha\u2019is in Iran - Australian Baha&#039;i Community","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Australian Foreign Minister expresses \u201cdeep concerns\u201d for Baha\u2019is in Iran - Australian Baha&#039;i Community","og_description":"Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop MP has issued a message for an event marking the sixth anniversary of the continuing imprisonment of seven Baha\u2019i leaders in Iran in which she expresses \u201cdeep concerns\u201d about the treatment of Baha\u2019is and others.","og_url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/","og_site_name":"Australian Baha&#039;i Community","article_published_time":"2014-05-28T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-10-14T04:47:54+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Julie_Bishop_official_portrait.jpg"}],"author":"it-admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"it-admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/","url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/","name":"Australian Foreign Minister expresses \u201cdeep concerns\u201d for Baha\u2019is in Iran - Australian Baha&#039;i Community","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Julie_Bishop_official_portrait.jpg","datePublished":"2014-05-28T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-14T04:47:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/27e40e806cfb1ed651dbd81accc2b48f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Julie_Bishop_official_portrait.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Julie_Bishop_official_portrait.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/australian-foreign-minister-expresses-deep-concerns-for-bahais-in-iran\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Australian Foreign Minister expresses \u201cdeep concerns\u201d for Baha\u2019is in Iran"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/","name":"Australian Baha&#039;i Community","description":"The official website of the Baha&#039;is of Australia","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/27e40e806cfb1ed651dbd81accc2b48f","name":"it-admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0defdebd8063ec2ce723629dbfefdb5171c04bb384ad103a85d694485f46ddbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0defdebd8063ec2ce723629dbfefdb5171c04bb384ad103a85d694485f46ddbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"it-admin"},"url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/author\/it-admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1536,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308\/revisions\/1536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}