Three Young Baha’is Arrested in Kermanshah

The city of Kermanshah, in western Iran, celebrates its long history as a cradle of civilization and a site for some of the most important extant ruins of the Sassanian empire. But these days, it is often in the news for the wrong reasons. Last month, Kermanshah was hit by a devastating earthquake that killed more than 500 people. In the same month, the city’s Baha’i community was hit by a wave of arrests, as reported by IranWire. With reports on new arrests, there have also been accounts of the desperate state of the city’s jails. 

On December 2, authorities arrested three young Baha’i women in Kermanshah. According to a source close to the Baha’i community in the city, the guards who arrested Soheila Shadabi, Naghmeh Shadabi and Farzane Amini told the families they didn’t know what the reason for the arrests was, but that they were “just doing their job.” The last round of arrests had been conducted by the feared paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). 

Some of the nine Baha’is arrested in November were released after they paid substantial bails a few weeks later. They include the couple Kambiz Moradipour and Sinoo Rasooli, whose arrests were reported by IranWire. Another Baha’i was released earlier because she is pregnant. 

The Toronto-based filmmaker Faran Moradipour, who is related to Kambiz, is closely following the case. In an interview with IranWire, he spoke of the bad conditions of the prison in Kermanshah, as relayed to him by the Baha’i prisoners there. He, and many of his fellow Baha’is are especially worried for the health of Peyman Ghiami, a father in his fifties, who was released, re-arrested and recently released on bail again.

“Peyman had something of a heart attack in prison,” Faran Moradipour told IranWire. “He needed a doctor in prison but his family’s requests were denied.”

The food in prison, heavy with salt and fat, is not suitable for Ghiami’s condition and his family wasn’t allowed to bring him food or fruit. He was also not given medication he needed. 

Reports from the prison outline a range of problems. Junior guards, for instance, harass prisoners by turning up the air conditioner so that the cells became uncomfortably chilly. This is especially harmful to those suffering from heart conditions, like Kambiz Moradipour. For three days last month, Moradipour’s requests for medication were denied. On the fourth day, after he announced loudly that if he dies, the guards would be responsible, he was sent to a doctor, who immediately advised medication. When the medicine arrived, however, some of it was confiscated. 

Using some time-honored harassment tactics, authorities also put pressure on prisoners using details and information from their specific backgrounds. Kambiz Moradipour, for instance, was threatened with the arrest of his daughter. His relative Faran Moradipour said that, faced with such a threat, Kambiz felt he had to respond. “His anger burst and he said to a guard: Do you genuinely think I view my children’s safety as being in your hands? I’ve entrusted the protection of my children to Bahaullah,” referring to the founder of the Baha’i faith, who Baha’is regard as a prophet. 

Meanwhile, the harassment of Baha’is goes unabated around the country. Shahindokht Molaverdi, President Rouhani’s envoy on citizenship rights, who is known to be one of the more liberal members of the administration, promised last week to “legally follow up on the closing down of shops and stopping the activities of Baha’is so that a solution can be found.” But three days after these remarks, on December 6, authorities closed down a shop run by a Baha’i citizen, Tooraj Misaghi, in the northwestern city of Tabriz, according to reports by the Human Rights Activists News Agency. He is the fifth Baha’i merchant in the city to be barred from making a living in the last few months. 

Misgahi’s business joins the long list of more than 100 Baha’i shops around the country, from those in the northern city of Sari on the shores of the Caspian Sea, to those in the southern port of Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf, which have been closed down in the last few weeks. According to Baha’is, this is because they observed the Baha’i holidays known as the Twin Holy Birthdays in October, which were of special importance this year as they coincided with Bahaullah’s bicentennial birthday. 

Last week, in the southeastern city of Zahedan, the Revolutionary Court sentenced six Baha’i citizens to 18 years in prison, having convicted them of “acting against national security by membership in the Baha’i organization,” Radio Farda reported. 

Meanwhile, the suffering of Baha’is in Kermanshah continues as they wait for their trials.