Elham Ruzbehi (الهام روزبهی), a Bahai from Semnan, has been sentenced to 3 years in prison. She was arrested, with several other Bahais, on March 12, 2011, following a search of her home and the seizure of some of her personal effects. She was pregnant at the time. She was later released on bail, but on November 1, the Persian-language Bahai News Service reported that she had been summoned to the local office of the Ministry of Intelligence, along with two other Bahai residents of Semnan, and interrogated for two hours before being released. The present verdict is based on that interrogation. She is the sister in law of Mr. Behnam Mut’arefi (بهنام متعارفی), who has been in prison since July, 2010.

Five other Bahais are presently serving prison sentenced in Semnan, and one Bahai from Semnan is in prison in Evin Prison, in Tehran.

Source (in Persian)

Short link: http://wp.me/pNMoJ-18f

Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.

On January 21, six agents of the Ministry of Intelligence broke down the door of the home of Enayatullah Sana’i (عنایت الله سنایی), a Bahai author and poet living in Sari, and seized a number of religious books, CDs and tapes. Since Mr. Sana’i was not at home, they could not arrest him. His home had also been raided in August 2011: on that occasion with such brutality that his eardrum was ruptured.

Source (in Persian)

January 29: A fuller report of the search and previous events is available at Iran Press News.
Short link: http://wp.me/pNMoJ-184

Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.

The prison sentences previously given to six of the staff of the Bahai Open University (BIHE) have been confirmed by the review court in Tehran. Kamran Morteza’i (کامران مرتضایی) was sentenced to five years in prison, while Mr. Riaz Sobhani, Ramin Ziba’i, Farhad Sadeqi, Mahmud Badevam, and Mrs. Nushin Khadem (ریاض سبحانی، رامین زیبائی، فرهاد صدقی، محمود بادوام و نوشین خادم) were sentenced to four years in prison. A seventh member of staff who was arrested at the same time, Vahid Mahmudi (وحید محمودی), was also sentenced to five years in prison: this sentence was reduced and suspended by the review court, and he was released on January 8.

Source (in Persian)

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Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.

This blog reports that in recent days the authorities have pressured Bahai families in Sanandaj and other towns in the region. Twelve Bahai families in Sanandaj have been summoned and questioned, and pressured to abandon the cemetery known as “Golestan Javid” in the village of Hassan Abad, which is held in the name of one of these families. Their homes have also been searched, and computers, photographs and books have been seized.

Source (in Persian)

Today's featured link: Trial of Mohammad Seifzadeh, prominent lawyer and one of the founding members of the Defenders of Human Rights Center.

January 20: The English-langauge Bahai News Service has a much more detailed report.
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.

Mr. Shahrukh Ta’ef ( شاهرخ طائف ), a Bahai of Tehran, has been summoned to Evin Prison to begin serving a four-year sentence. He has been found guilty of “membership of the Bahai community.” He was arrested on January 14, 2009, following a search of his home, and was held in solitary confinement until March 18, 2009, when he was released on bail.

Today's featured link: The Guardian obituary for Ian Semple

Source (in Persian)
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Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.

Fu’ad Khanjani ( فؤاد خانجانی ), a Bahai student excluded from tertiary education, has begun serving his 4-year prison sentence, in Evin Prison in Tehran. He had been studying Industrial Management in Isfahan, but was expelled because of his Bahai beliefs. He was arrested on April 27, 2010, and released on bail a few days later. He had previously been arrested on March 2, 2010. His father, `Ala-aldin Khanjani (علاءالدین خانجانی) and other members of the extended family have also been arrested. His sister, Leva Khanjani Mobasher’s two-year prison sentence was upheld by an appeals court in 2011. His grandfather, Jamal-aldin Khanjani (جمال‌الدین خانجانی) is presently serving a 20-year sentence in Rajai Shahr prison, near Tehran. All have been imprisoned for their religious beliefs.

Today's featured link: The Guardian obituary for Ian Semple

Source (in Persian)

Short link: http://wp.me/pNMoJ-17F

Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.

Shervin Fallah ( شروین فلاح), a first-year Bahai student of building technologies at the Technical Institute of Bojnourd, was informed orally on January 10 that he had been expelled because of his Bahai beliefs. In the previous two years, he had been excluded from the School of Architecture, but in October 2011 he was accepted in the course for building technologies. So far this academic year, more than 20 Bahai students have been expelled in Iran, while dozens more have been refused admission on the grounds that their applications are “incomplete.”

Today's featured link: The Guardian obituary for Ian Semple

Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.

Hoshang Fana’ayan ( هوشنگ فنائیان ), a 48-year old Bahai from Amol who is serving a sentence in the city prison of Sari, suffers from kidney stones but was initially not hospitalised, despite his serious physical condition. He was only hospitalised briefly after he had expelled the stone, and his family were not informed. Despite his physical condition he has been denied prison leave, under various pretexts. He is being held in substandard conditions, in terms of hygiene, temperature and food, but prison authorities have thus far not taken any steps to improve them. He is also said to be under pressure from prison authorities with respect to his contacts with other prisoners. This presumably means his contacts have been restricted. He is serving a four year sentence for propaganda against the regime, membership of the Bahai community and participating in religious activities, and insulting Iran’s Supreme Leader.

Source (in Persian)
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Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.

Vahid Mahmoudi (وحید محمودی), one of the staff at the Bahai Open University (BIHE), was released from Raja’i Shahr prison, near Tehran, on January 8, after 235 days in prison. As previously reported, he has been given a suspended sentence of four and a half years in prison, plus six months in prison, which he has already served since his arrest.

Source (in Persian)
Short link: http://wp.me/pNMoJ-17a

Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.

The management of the Wadi Rahmat cemetery in Tabriz — which is ironically named after the quality of mercy — have refused to allow the burial of a Bahai there, instead requesting that the body be taken to another city. Bahai religious practices require a body to be buried within one hour’s travel of the place of death. Muhammad Husayn Barqi (محمد حسین برقی), a Bahai resident of Tabriz, had a stroke and died in his home on January 6. The family washed the body and wrapped it in a shroud, according to Bahai rites, and reported the death to the local authorities. The authorities order that the body should be taken to the Wadi Rahmat cemetery. One day later, the cemetery authorities told the family that the body should be taken to the city of Miandoab, about 160 km south of Tabriz. His children responded that his Will stipulated that he should be buried in the place where he died, and they were not willing to take him to another town. The body is now in cold storage in the morgue.

The management of this cemetery previously denied permission for Khalil Nourmuhammadi Shisheban (خلیل نورمحمدی شیشوان), who died in Tabriz on October 25, 2011, to be buried there according to Bahai rites. Bahais have been buried in the Wadi Rahmat cemetery, according to Bahai rites, since 1969, and the Bahais of Tabriz share in the cost of construction and maintenance of the cemetery.

Source (in Persian)
Short link: http://wp.me/pNMoJ-175

Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.