Property of Shayda Taa’id confiscated by Article 49 court

HRANA, January 17, 2022. –

A special court for Mazandaran Province has ruled that the property of Shayda Taa’id ( شیدا تائید ), a Bahai living in Nur County, Mazandaran, should be seized and handed to “The Executive Headquarters of the Imam.” This organisation, known as Setad, is a parastate organization controlled by the Supreme Leader of Iran. It was created from thousands of properties confiscated in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and serves as a front company for the dubious assets of the ruling elite. The special court rules on confiscations under Article 49 of the Constitution, which says that the government has the responsibility of confiscating all wealth accumulated through usury, usurpation, bribery (etc..), and the operation of centers of corruption. The court based its decision on a fatwa from (unspecified) Shiah clerics, that the ownership of property by Bahais is not in accordance with religious law (“مشروع نبودن اموال بهائیان” ). The decision was issued on January 13 this year.

Mrs Taa’id was arrested in her home in Qaemshahr on September 23, 2021, and released on bail on October 4. Bail was set at 900 million tumans (18,400 euros ; $US 21,400). The authorities have been harassing her for over a decade. On November 6, 2010, the home she shared with her mother, Fariba Ta’id ( فریده تایید ), was searched by the Ministry of Intelligence, and on November 20, 2010, they were arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence. They were both released in early December, 2010. In 2013, her home was raided on January 21, and she was arrested along with her guest, Bayan Baba’i ( بیان بابایی ) from Qaemshahr. They were taken to the Ministry of Intelligence in Sari, and three days later were allowed to contact their families. They were detained by the Ministry of Intelligence in Sari for a total of 25 days. In June 2016 she began a one-year sentence in Babol Prison, in relation to the 2013 arrest, but was released early, in December that year.

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Six Bahai-run businesses sealed in Qaemshahr

HRANA, November 9, 2021. –

The workplaces of six Bahais in Qaemshahr were closed by the authorities on November 8, because the Bahais took free days to observe two Bahai holy days last week. The workplaces are identified as a doll and toy workshop belonging to Nima No`khaah (نیما نوع‌خواه), a spectacles repair unit belong to Naabat Asadi (نابت اسدی), a unit making hygiene requirements belonging to Soheil Baabaa’i (سهیل بابایی), a shop servicing refrigeration and air conditioning units, belonging to Kourush Rezaa’i (کوروش رضایی), a paint and building supplies business run by Maazyaar `Abaasi (مازیار عباسی) and a welding and ironware unit run by Mr. Akbari (آقای اکبری). A number of Bahai-run businesses in Qaemshahr and elsewhere in Mazandaran Province were closed in 2015 for the same reason, and they have still not been allowed to reopen. Because Bahais are excluded from government employment and from employment in many sectors of the economy, a large portion of them run small shops, workshops and independent practices in professions such as optometry.

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Optician in Qaemshahr fired for Bahai beliefs

HRANA, October 17, 2021. –

Six years ago, the optician’s business of Soheil Haqdust (سهیل حقدوست) in Qaemshahr was closed down by the authorities because he had taken a free day to observe a Bahai Holy Day. He went to work in the office of an opthamologist in the city, but has now been fired becuase the Republican Guard put pressure on his employer. Then he was arrested, on the accusation that he had spread information about the closure of his shop, and the businesses of other Bahais in the Province of Mazandaran. After four days he was freed on bail, and the Revolutionary Court of Sari later sentenced him to one year in prison for “propaganda against the regime.” The Provincial Review Court reduced this to four months, but in February 2019 he was among those pardoned on the anniversary of the triumph of the 1979 Revolution.

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Shayda Taa’id released on bail

HRANA, October 2021. –

Shayda Taa’id (شیدا تایید), a Bahai from Qaemshahr, was released on bail on October 4. Bail was set at 900 million tumans (18,400 euros ; $US 21,400). She was arrested in her home on September 23 this year. Agents searched her home and seized her mobile phone, electronic devices, books, photographs and writings. She has been imprisoned for her faith before: on January 21, 2013 she was arrested, and three years later was sentenced to one year in prison. She served that sentence in Babol Prison. My information is that she was also arrested in 2010, when she was living in Sari (a short distance from Qaemshahr): I do not know what the outcome of that arrest was.

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Shayda Taa’id arrested in Qaemshahr

HRANA, September 25, 2021. –

Shayda Taa’id (شیدا تایید), a Bahai living in Qaemshahr, was arrested in her home on September 23. Agents searched her home and seized her mobile phone, electronic devices, books, photographs and writings. They initially put her elderly mother, Farideh Ta’ed (فریده تایید) in their vehicle as well, but then unloaded her in the middle of the road. It is not known where Mrs. Taa’id is being detained.

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Two arrests in Qaemshahr (updated)

Iran Wire and HRANA, 26 Janury, 2020. –

Faraaneh Mansouri ( فرانه منصوری) and her husband Saamaan Shirvaani (سامان شیروانی), two Bahais from Qaemshahr, were arrested on January 23 while visiting the home of an old friend in the same city. The arrest was made by agents from the Intelligence Arm of the Revolutionary Guards. The agents came unnanounced over the wall of their friend’s house and forced their way inside. They showed an arrest warrant, and filmed the whole process. The agents searched the house and seized some belongings including a laptop computer, hard drive and mobile telephone, and arrested both the couple and the friend they were visiting. The friend was released a few hours later. The agents took Mr. Shirvaani with them to the couple’s home, which they also searched, but it is not known whether they seized any belongings since only Mr. Shirvani was with them, and he is being held incommunicado.

It is not known why this couple were arrested, or where they are being held. Their families have not been successful in obtaining further information. [Reading between the lines of these reports, it is possible that they were visiting a Muslim friend, and the security forces took action because they seek to minimize contacts between Bahais and Muslims. Some years ago, a Bahai named Faraaneh Mansuri was expelled from university in Tabriz because of her Bahai beliefs. I do not know whether it is the same person. ~ Sen]

Update, February 1: HRANA reports that after ten days of detention, there is still no word of where they are being detained, or why. Saamaan Shirvaani is due for medical treatment for a gastrointestinal condition.  The city prosecutor initially told the families of the detainees that he was unaware of their case, although the arrest warrant was prepared by his department. After three days of detention, judicial officials told the families verbally to prepare for their release on bail, but the Prosecutor barred this. The couple have not been charged, and have no lawyer.

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Five arrested at the Provincial Governor’s Office of Mazandaran

Iran Press Watch, November 12, 2016.

On the morning of November 8, at least five Bahais were arrested at the Mazandaran Provincial Governor’s Office, and a large number of Bahais were harshly treated in front of that office. According to a report by BahaiNews, at least five Bahais who had attended a day of “public interaction with officials” regarding the sealing of Bahai business premises in Mazandaran Province were arrested by security agents. An informed source told the BahaiNews reporter: “After a number of Bahais were permitted to enter the Provincial Governor’s Office, intelligence agents immediately arrested those who were inside the building. Moreover, those who were outside the door were videotaped and attacked by security agents.”

This informed source added: “The agents were shouting that these people receive instructions from Israel, and that they had come there to assemble, start a riot and set fire to the banks. They kept on shouting this. With respect to those who had been arrested, they said, ‘We have also arrested your leaders’ ‒ meaning those who had been arrested inside the building.”

According to this informed source, the people who had come to this public meeting with the officials were Bahais from the city of Qaemshahr. Based on the latest news received by BahaiNews, the names of some of those arrested are: Nima Nokhaah (نیما نوخواه), Aarshaam Golpour (آرشام گلپور), Sohayl Haqqdoust (سهیل حق دوست), Shahrouz Zamaani (شهروز زمانی) and Behnam Mirzai, who is named by the BBC as `Ala-addin Mirza’i (علاءالدین میرزایی).

Short link: http://wp.me/pNMoJ-2L2

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