When Iran Has Problems, They Blame The Bahá’í Community
(ANALYSIS) For Iran's Baha’i community, the country’s latest political upheaval has revived a painful historical pattern: Whenever the Islamic Republic faces existential pressure, one of its first responses is to intensify its campaign against vulnerable religious minorities.
The case of Peyvand Naimi and his cousin Borna Naimi illustrates this dynamic. Arrested in January following mass anti-government protests and accused of killing state security agents, Peyvand Naimi has spent more than six months in prison despite his family saying authorities have never presented formal charges or evidence. They also maintain he was arrested before the alleged killings even took place.
His treatment — prolonged solitary confinement, torture and what his relatives describe as a coerced confession — has become emblematic of what human rights organizations claimed is a broader campaign targeting Iran’s Baha’i community. Borna Naimi was arrested in March for being associated with the protests.
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Whether every allegation against both men can ultimately be independently verified, the larger trend is difficult to ignore. Dozens of Baha’is have been arrested since the start of this year, homes have been raided, religious materials confiscated or destroyed and detainees subjected to abuse. These developments come as Iran simultaneously confronts domestic unrest, economic collapse and the aftermath of military conflict with Israel and the United States.
The timing is hardly coincidental. In fact, the persecution of Baha’is predates the Islamic Republic itself. The Baha’i faith emerged in 19th-century Persia, preaching the unity of humanity, equality between men and women and the belief that God’s revelation continues through successive prophets. Because Baha’is recognize Baha’u’llah as the latest divine messenger after Muhammad, Iran’s Shiite clerical establishment has long viewed the religion as heretical.
This theological dispute has had profound political consequences. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, thousands of Baha’is lost jobs, property, educational opportunities and, in many cases, their lives. Hundreds were executed or disappeared during the regime’s early years. Unlike Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, Baha’is receive no constitutional recognition as a protected religious minority under Iran’s theocratic system.
That status has allowed successive governments to deny them higher education, exclude them from many professions, confiscate businesses, demolish cemeteries and imprison community leaders with relatively little domestic political cost.
Scapegoating during a crises
This latest crackdown follows a recurring strategy employed by authoritarian governments: Unite the majority by identifying an internal enemy.
Iran has repeatedly portrayed Baha’is as foreign agents, particularly because the religion’s world administrative center is located in Haifa, Israel. The location, however, is historical rather than political. Bahau’llah was exiled there decades before the creation of the modern State of Israel.
“Every time there is a crisis — social, economic, or political — shift the blame to the Baha’is,” Simin Fahandej, who represents the international community of Baha’is at the United Nations, told the Associated Press. “And this [year’s] protest and the war have also been no different.”
Nonetheless, Iran’s state media routinely cite this geographic coincidence as supposed proof of espionage. The accusations extends well beyond national security. Officials and state-controlled media have blamed Baha’is for economic hardship, social instability and political unrest. During periods of protest, authorities have often implied that foreign conspiracies — rather than domestic grievances — are responsible for public anger.
By focusing public attention on a small minority comprising less than one percent of Iran’s population, authorities redirect frustration away from inflation, unemployment, corruption and political repression. Activists have argued that if a community can be imprisoned simply because of its faith, ordinary citizens receive a powerful message about the consequences of dissent. Public accusations, televised confessions and reports of torture become instruments of deterrence.
Iran’s crackdown following nationwide protests has targeted journalists, women’s rights activists, students, lawyers, labor organizers and ethnic minorities. The repression of Baha’is fits within that broader effort to eliminate any group viewed as existing outside the ideological boundaries established by the Islamic Republic.
Why this is different
What distinguishes the current crackdown is the convergence of multiple crises. Iran is emerging from one of its bloodiest periods of domestic unrest since 1979 while also confronting the consequences of regional conflict, international isolation and severe economic distress after the U.S. and Israel launched joint attacks earlier this year.
Governments under pressure frequently tighten internal controls. In Iran’s case, religious minorities become particularly vulnerable because they can be portrayed simultaneously as theological deviants and national security threats. That makes persecution easier to justify to supporters.
Behind every arrest is a family navigating uncertainty, prolonged detention and limited access to legal representation. Peyvand Naimi’s relatives have said that they continued visiting prosecutors after a judge reportedly ordered his release, only to be told that “the Baha’is will not be released.”
Such language reflects what many Baha’is say they have experienced for generations: Punishment based less on individual conduct than on religious identity. Despite decades of persecution, many remain in Iran. An estimated 300,000 Baha’is continue living there despite repeated arrests and discrimination. Many see remaining in their homeland not simply as endurance, but as a commitment to serving their communities through education, social service and nonviolence.
This resilience helps explain why Iran’s Baha’i community has survived successive campaigns against it. As long as the Islamic Republic continues to define their beliefs as illegitimate, periods of political instability are likely to bring renewed persecution.
Clemente Lisi serves as executive editor at Religion Unplugged.