Iran arrests ten Baha'i women as crackdown on minorities continues

Ten Baha'i women were arrested on Wednesday to serve the jail terms they had been handed over in October, the Hengaw human rights organization reported, as the crackdown on the Baha’i minority continues.

The women were arrested and transferred to prison on the morning of Wednesday, January 22, when security forces raided their homes in Isfahan, the Hengaw report said.

Charged in the Isfahan Revolutionary Court with "educational and propaganda activities against the sacred Islamic law”, a source familiar with the case told Iran International that the court classified the verdict as "confidential and security-related”.

According to information obtained by Iran International, the court cited activities such as organizing educational classes on music, yoga, painting, English language, and nature tours for Iranian and Afghan children and teenagers as evidence of the charges.

The women have had all phones, laptops, digital devices, gold items, necklaces, rings, and US and Australian dollars confiscated from their homes as a "supplementary punishment" for the benefit of the "Muslims' Fund (the state).”

Roya Azadkhosh, Nasrin Khadami, Mojgan Pourshafi, Azita Rezvanikhah, Boshra Motahar, Sara Shakib, Shoorangiz Behamin, Sanaz Rasteh, Maryam Khorsandi, and Firouzeh Rastinejad had previously been sentenced by Branch 37 of the Isfahan Provincial Court of Appeals to five years of imprisonment each.

Additionally, each of these individuals was sentenced to a fine of 50 million tomans, five years of deprivation from social services, and a two-year travel ban.

The Baha’i citizens were initially arrested on Sunday, April 25, 2022, in Baharestan, Isfahan, and were temporarily released on bail in May of the same year, pending the completion of judicial proceedings.

Unofficial sources estimate that over 300,000 Baha'is live in Iran. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic officially recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism.

Since the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom uprising which has seen woman in Iran under even greater threat of arrest than ever before, the risks for Baha'i women have soared, with dozens summoned to court facing vague criminal charges.