Iranian Authorities Level Dozens of Baha'i Graves

Authorities in the Islamic Republic have demolished over 30 graves belonging to the Baha'i religious minority at a cemetery in Tehran.

According to a statement issued by the Baha'i International Community (BIC) on March 5, the authorities removed grave markers and used bulldozers to flatten the resting places, effectively erasing any evidence of the burials.

The government's action follows a pattern spanning two years where it forcibly buried deceased Baha'is in this location, denying families the right to participate in funeral rites and not adhering to Baha'i burial customs.

"It's almost Nowruz [Persian new year], and while families who have recently lost their loved ones are still grieving their passing, the Iranian authorities impose fresh horrors on them, proving, ultimately, their utter inhumanity," said Simin Fahandej, Representative of the Baha'i International Community, to the United Nations in Geneva, said in the statement. 

"They are destroying the graves of people who died only in the past few months, even just a few weeks ago -- people whose memories are still fresh in the minds and hearts of their loved ones.

"No religious or cultural norm, in any part of the world, supports this kind of cruel desecration. This is cultural cleansing, through the destruction of graves and cemeteries, aiming to erase Baha'i identity from the consciousness of the Iranian people," she added.

Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Tehran's Baha'i community owned an 80,000 square meter cemetery at Khavaran and a 1.5 million square meter cemetery property in the Kabirabad area of the capital.

Both properties were confiscated in the 1980s by the new Islamic Republic, and at least 15,000 graves were demolished at Khavaran.

The government has intensified its crackdown on members of the Baha'i faith, imprisoning dozens of them on spurious charges over the past year, denying them access to higher education and livelihoods, and confiscating or destroying their personal properties.