Saha Thaabeti arrested in Sari, Bahai homes across Iran raided

HRANA, July 31, 2022. –

On July 31, the home of Saha Thaabeti-Rahmaani (سها ثابتی (رحمانی)) in Sari was raided by security agents, who seized some personal effects including her cell phone, and arrested her. It is not known where she is being detained. Other Bahai homes in Sari, belonging to Saanaaz `Alizaadeh (ساناز علیزاده), Thoraya Monuchehr-zaadeh-Mithaaqi (ثریا منوچهرزاده (میثاقی)) and Navid Mithaaqi (نوید میثاقی) were also raided. In Gonbad-e Kavus, the homes of Aazaadeh Yakini (آزاده یقینی) and Afsaaneh Tashakor (افسانه تشکر) were raided, and in Maahshahr, the home of Afnaaneh Ansaari (افنانه انصاری) was raided, and she was detained for a few hours. In Shiraz, the homes of Ehsaan Jaabri (احسان جابری) and Behaar Bengaleh (بهار بنگاله) were raided, and in Mashhad, the home of Farideh Hedaayati (فریده هدایتی). In Karaj, the home of Bita Mumtaazi-Saraaf (بیتا ممتازی (صراف)) and Puya Mumtaazi-Saraaf (پویا ممتازی (صراف)) was raided, and in Gorgan the homes of Shafaq Fahandezh (شفق فهندژ), Shakib Modi-Masumi (شکیب مودی (معصومی)), Afsun Modi-Masumi (افسون مودی (معصومی)), Shaqayeq Pourenayati (شقایق پورعنایتی) and Neda Taa`ifi (ندا طائفی) were raided.

Farhaad Fahandezh tests positive, moved to isolation cell

HRANA, October 1, 2020. – 

Farhaad Fahandezh (فرهاد فهندژ), a 61-year old Bahai serving a 10-year sentence in Rajai Shahr prison, has been moved to a solitary confinement cell in the high-security block after testing positive for the Covid-19 virus. He is now in the eighth year of his sentence.  He suffers from a gastro-intestinal disorder and heart disease. Mr. Fahandezh was born in Torbat-e Heydarieh, and was arrested in his home Gorgan on October 17, 2012.  He was held incommunicado for seven months, before being tried in the Revolutionary Court of Tehran by the notorious judge Moqayeseh ( قاضی محمد مقیسه ), also responsible for the sentencing of the seven ‘Yaran’ (national facilitators for the Bahais in Iran).  He was charged with teaching the Bahai Faith and administering the Bahai organisation. This is the second time he has been imprisoned for his religious beliefs. In 1983, when he was 24 years old, he was sentenced to six years in prison. The conditions he endured during this sentence left him with a gastro-intestinal disorder. 

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Farhaad Fahandezh on furlough from Rajai Shahr prison

HRANA, March 16, 2020. –

Farhaad Fahandezh, a Bahai from Gorgan who is serving a ten-year sentence for his religious beliefs, has been granted furlough for the first time. He was released on March 16. He has been in prison, initially in Gorgan and Evin, and since then in Rajai Shahr, for about seven and a half years. He was one of about 20 Bahais who were detained in a wave of arrests about October 17, 2012. The charges against the group were “organising and running an illegal organisation, membership of an illegal organisation, and propaganda against the regime.” The judge was the notorious Judge Muhammad Maqiseh (قاضی محمد مقیسه).

He is now 60 years old. He was first arrested in 1983, when he was 24 years old. On that occasion he served six years in prison, which left him with digestive disorders.

It appears that his furlough may be connected to a measure announced to reduce the prison population during the Covid-19 epidemic, although that has led to release mainly for those convicted of economic crimes and serving sentences of five years or less. If this furlough is connected to the Covid-19 epidemic, it is a sign of hope for prisoners of conscience in Iran, who have not been released under that measure.

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Sheida Qoddusi granted conditional release in Gorgan

HRANA, March 18, 2019. –

Sheida Qoddusi (شیدا قدوسی), who began her 5-year sentence in Gorgan prison on June 13, 2017, has been granted conditional release after serving one third of that sentence. She was one of 14 Bahais arrested in Gorgan in mid-October, 2012. A number of other Bahais were arrested at the same time elsewhere in Golestan Province. They were tried in their absence by Judge Qanbari (قاضی قنبری). Mrs Qoddusi was initially sentenced to 11 years in prison, reduced to five years by the review court. She has two children. She was granted a ten-day furlough from June 27, 2018.

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Sheida Qoddusi granted prison furlough

Iran Press Watch, June 29, 2018. –

Sheida Qoddusi (شیدا قدوسی), who has served over a year of her 5-year sentence in Gorgan prison, began a 10-day furlough on June 27. She was one of about 20 Bahais who were arrested in Golestan Province in October, 2012, and later released on bail. They were tried by Judge Qanbari (قاضی قنبری). Sheida Qoddusi was initially sentenced to 11 years in prison, reduced to five years by the review court. She has two children.

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Bahai student expelled in Gorgan

Hamid Rezataghipour, May 29, 2018. –

Shakib Teymouri (شکیب تیموری), a graduate student in mechanical engineering at Gorgan University, was expelled on May 27. University officials excluded him from the university web site and from registration. The university refused also to document the Bachelor’s degree he had already achieved. He began his studies late in the autumn of 2014, and entered the Master’s course in 2016.

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Shiva Rouhani granted early release from Gorgan prison

HRANA, November 26, 2017.

Shiva Rouhani (شیوا روحانی) has been granted conditional release from Amir Abad prison in Gorgan, after serving one third of her 18-month sentence. She began her sentence on July 11 this year: it appears that her time in detention following her arrest has also been counted. She is one of the 22 Bahais of Golestan Province who were arrested on October 17, 2012, and initially given very heavy sentences. They were charged with collaborating with hostile governments, effective activities to promote the goals of a sect and of anti-Islamic and anti-Shiah hostile governments, and with making propaganda in favour of the Bahai Faith and against the regime of the Islamic Republic, by participating in the ‘Ruhi program’ (Bahai catechism class) in Golestan Province. The heavy sentences were reduced by the Review Court to periods of 18 months or 21 months.

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Parivash Shoja`i granted conditional release in Gorgan

HRANA, November 22, 2017.

Parivash Shoja`i ( پریوش شجاعی ) has been granted a conditional release from Amir Abad prison in Gorgan after serving one third of her sentence of one year and nine months. She began her sentence on July 3, 2017. She had originally been sentenced to nine years in prison for collaborating with hostile governments, effective activities to promote the goals of a sect and of anti-Islamic and anti-Shiah hostile governments, and with making propaganda in favour of the Bahai Faith and against the regime of the Islamic Republic, by participating in the ‘Ruhi program’ (Bahai catechism class) in Golestan Province. This sentence was reduced by the court of review to 21 months. In recent weeks 11 other Bahai prisoners in Golestan Province, most of them in Amir Abad prison, have been granted early conditional release. They are among 22 Bahais of Golestan Province who were first arrested on October 17, 2012.

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Mojdeh Zohori free in Gorgan

HRANA, November 11, 2017.

Mojdeh Zohori-Fahandezh (مژده ظهوری (فهندژ)) has been granted a conditional release from Amir Abad prison in Gorgan after serving one third of her sentence of 21 months. Her husband Farhad Fahandezh (فرهاد فهندژ) remains in prison. As previously reported, on October 14 five Bahai prisoners in Gorgan and one in Gonbad were released early under the same provision, and four others were released a few days prior to that. All eleven of those granted early release were among 22 Bahais of Golestan Province who were first arrested on October 17, 2012.

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Summary of recent closures of Bahai businesses

Payam News (Facebook), October 25, 2017.

At least 21 Bahai-run businesses in Mahshahr (Khuzestan Province) have been closed down by the authorities because they were closed on a Bahai Holy Day. It is notable that sixteen of these businesses were run by members of the Afshar family. The businesses included an aluminum door and window supplier, a shop for locks and door fittings, a hardware shop, a drapery and a clothing store, two electric appliance shops, a TV showroom, two shops selling car parts and accessories, a workshop manufacturing goods from MDF wood and a supplier of ventilation equipment. An informed source said that only two Bahai-owned businesses in the city have continued to operate.

Another 28 Bahai-run businesses have been shut down in Shiraz, Gonbad-e-Kavus and Gorgan, along with 40 in the Province of Golestan.

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14 Bahai-run businesses closed in Shiraz Province

Payam News, October 22, 2017.

Fourteen Bahai-run businesses in the cities of Shiraz, Gonbad-e Qabus, and Gorgan have been closed by the authorities. Five were closed in the Shiraz, eight in Gonbad-e Qabus, and one in Gorgan. The office of public places has claimed they had no business licences: the Bahai owners have responded by posting photographs of their business licences, bearing the yellow stamp from the office of public places.

The business owners in Shiraz are Riazullah Khadem (ریاض اله خادم), Isma`il Foruzan (اسماعیل فروزان), Farshad Farzandi (فرشاد فرزندی), Varjavand Mostaqim (ورجاوند مستقیم) and Mostafa Sha`erzadeh (مصطفی شاعرزاده). In Gonbade-e Qabus the owners are Koroush Ziari (کوروش زیاری), owner of two sealed businesses, along with Mrs. Hamideh Ziari (حمیده زیاری), Iraj Roshani (ایرج روشنی), Houman Ta’ef (هومن طائف), Sassan Sabeti (ساسان ثابتی), Shahram Tahdhib (شهرام تهذیب) and Farhad Fana’ayan (فرهاد فنائیان). The Guild authorities in Gonbad had issued a warning that shops should be kept open on last Saturday and Sunday, which were Bahai Holy Days which Bahais take free from work, where possible. The Bahai-run business that was closed in Gorgan was an optometry supplies shop run by Mehran Khalkhali (مهران خلخلی ).

In recent days, at least 40 Bahai businesses in Golestan were warned that they face closure if they take the Bahai Holy Days free.

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Five Bahai prisoners released early in Gorgan, one in Gonbad

Payam News (Facebook), October 15, 2017.

Puna Sana’i ( پونه ثنایی), Fahrnaz Tabayanian-Sana’i (فرحناز تبیانیان( ثنایی)), Hena Aqiqiyan (هنا عقیقیان), Rufeya Pakzadan ( روفیا پاکزادان), and Behnam Hassani (بهنام حسني) have been granted conditional release from Amir Abad prison in Gorgan. They have served a little one third of their sentences. Rufeya Pakzadan was sentenced to 18 months in prison, while the other four had 21-month sentences.

The name of Fahrnaz Tabayanian-Sana’i was previously reported as Farah Tebyanian-Sana’i (فرح تبیانیان (ثنائی).

Kamelia Bideli (کاملیا بیدلی), from Minudasht, has also been granted conditional release from prison in Gonbad. She was serving an 18-month sentence.

As previously reported, four other Bahais were granted conditional early release from prison in Gorgan a few days ago. All ten of those freed were among 22 Bahais of Golestan Province who were first arrested on October 17, 2012.

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Hana Kushkabaghi begins her sentence in Gorgan

Payam News (Facebook), October 12, 2017.

Hana Kushkabaghi ( هنا کوشکباغی ) from Gonbad-e Qabus, was summoned by the Ministry of Intelligence and taken to Amir Abad prison in Gorgan on October 11, to begin a sentence of one year and nine months for her Bahai beliefs. She was originally sentenced to 9 years, but this was reduced by the Review Court. She was one of 22 Bahais of Golestan Province who were arrested on October 17, 2012. They were charged with collaborating with hostile governments, effective activities to promote the goals of a sect and of anti-Islamic and anti-Shiah hostile governments, and with making propaganda in favour of the Bahai Faith and against the regime of the Islamic Republic, by participating in the ‘Ruhi program’ (Bahai catechism) in Golestan Province.

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Four Bahais given early release from prison in Gorgan

Payam News (Facebook), October 7, 2017.

Nazi Tahqiqi (نازی تحقیقی), Houshmand Dehqan Yazdeli (هوشمند دهقان یزدلی), Mariyam Dehqan Yazdeli (مریم دهقان یزدلی) and Soudabeh Mehdinezhad ( سودابه مهدی نژاد) have been granted conditional early release from prison in Gorgan. They are among 20 Bahais who were arrested in the Province in October, 2012. These four were all sentenced 18 months in prison. Soudabeh Mehdinezhad began his sentence on June 19, 2017, while the other three began their sentences on June 13.

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Fahrmand Sana’i and Kamal Kashani released after 5 years in prison

Payam News, (Facebook), September 20, 2017.

Fahrmand Sana’i ( فرهمند ثنایی) and Kamal Kashani (کمال کاشانی ), Bahais from Gorgan who have served five years in Raja’i Shahr prison near Tehran for their Bahai beliefs, were released on September 20. They were among about 20 Bahais who were detained in a wave of arrests on about October 17, 2012. A few weeks later they were transferred from Gorgan to Evin Prison in Tehran for interrogation, and then to Raja’i Shahr prison. They have had no prison furlough during their time in prison.

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Farhad Eqbali released

Bahai News (Persian), May 16, 2017.

Farhad Eqbali ( فرهاد اقبالی ) a Bahai prisoner of conscience from Gorgan, has been released from Raja’i Shahr prison near Tehran where he has been serving a five-year sentence.

Mr. Eqbali was fired from his work in the poultry sector in July 2004, because of pressure on his employer from the Ministry of Intelligence. Under Iran’s apartheid system, Bahais are barred from working in most food-related sectors because they are regarded as “unclean.” He went on to study radiology at Shiraz University, but was expelled in his second year of study because of his Bahai beliefs. In November, 2012, he was one of about twenty Bahais, and some Muslims accused of associating with Bahais, who were arrested in Gorgan. He was quickly released on bail because of his heart condition. He was tried with 4 other Bahais on charges of propaganda against the regime, participation in Bahai activities and cooperation with foreign governments. His 5-year sentence was confirmed by the court of review on August 27, 2014, and he began his sentence in Gorgan on the same day. Soon after, he was transferred to Evin prison, in Tehran, and was moved to Raja’i Shahr prison in October, 2014.

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Tina Mauhabati’s prison sentence commuted to a fine

Bahai News (Persian), January 31, 2017.

Tina Mauhabati ( تینا موهبتی ), a Bahai originally from Gorgan in Golestan Province, has been fined 3 million tumans (860 euros; $US 930). This fine replaces her previous sentence of one year and nine months, which was not implemented because she was less than 18 years old when she was sentenced. At the time of her arrest she was living in Tehran, and was arrested at the bus station in Gorgan on the evening of October 23, 2012, as she was waiting for the bus to Tehran. She was held for 24 days before being released on bail. She was charged with propaganda against the regime, apparently connected to a prayer meeting. She is one of 24 Bahais from Golestan province who were given very heavy sentences in January, 2016, sentences which were greatly reduced by the Review Court in November, 2016. They were charged with crimes such as collaborating with hostile states by promoting the interests of a sect and of anti-Muslim and anti-Shiah arrogant governments, and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic and in favor of the Bahai Faith through participation in Ruhi projects in Golestan province.”

Tina Mauhabati’s sentence was initially 9 years in prison, later reduced to 21 months, and now commuted to a fine. Because she will be ‘credited’ with the time she has already been imprisoned, the amount she will actually have to pay is 1.8 million tumans.

Court of review slashes sentences for 22 Bahais in Golestan

Bahai News, November 2, 2016.

In January this year, a court in Gorgan which began hearing the cases of small groups of Bahais in April, 2015, issued sentences in 24 cases. These 24 Bahais have been free on bail, pending the ruling of the Review Court for Golestan Province, which reviewed the cases on September 18 and 29, and has now announced its decision on most of these cases.

Farah Tebyanian (فرح تبيانيان), Puna Sana’i ( پونه ثنایی), Mona Amri Hesari (مونا امري حصاري), Behnam Hassani (بهنام حسني), Parisa Shahidi ( پریسا شهیدی ), Mojdeh Zouhori (مژده ظهوري), Parivash Shoja`i ( پریوش شجاعی ), Tina Mauhabati ( تینا موهبتی ) and Hana Aqiqiyan (هنا عقیقیان), all from Gorgan; Shohreh Samimi (شهره صمیمی) from Minudasht; Bita Hedayati (بيتا هدايتي), Vesaq Sana’i ()وثاق سنايي and Hana Kushkabaghi ( هنا کوشکباغی ) from Gonbad-e Qabus had their prison sentences reduced from 9 years to one year and nine months.

Rufeya Pakzadan ( روفیا پاکزادان), Soudabeh Mehdinezhad ( سودابه مهدی نژاد ), Mitra Nouri ( میترا نوری ), Shiva Rouhani ( شیوا روحانی ), Houshmand Dehqan (هوشمند دهقان), Mariyam Dehqan (مريم دهقان) and Nazi Tahqiqi (نازي تحقیقی), all from Gorgan, along with Kamelia Bideli (کاملیا بیدلی) and Navid Moalem (نوید معلم) from Minudasht, had their sentences reduced from 6 years to 18 months.

The review court did not anounce its decision on the cases of Shahnam Jadhbani ( شهنام جذبانی ) from Minudasht and Shayda Qodousi (شيدا قدوسي) from Gorgan, who were sentenced to 11 years in prison.

The Bahais were charged with collaborating with hostile governments, effective activities to promote the goals of a sect and of anti-Islamic and anti-Shiah hostile governments, and with making propaganda in favour of the Bahai Faith and against the regime of the Islamic Republic, by participating in the ‘Ruhi program’ (Bahai catechism) in Golestan Province.

Three of the women mentioned above have husbands who are already in prison, and who have not been allowed any prison furlough. Their husbands were in a group of seven Bahai men from Gorgan who were sentenced in May 2013. Punah Sana’i is the sister, and Farah Sana’i is the wife, of Fahrmand Sana’i (فرهمند سنایی), who was sentenced to five years; Parisa Shahidi is the wife of Kamal Kashani (کمال کاشانی), also sentenced to five years; and Mojdeh Zouhori is the wife of Farhad Fahandezh (فرهاد فهندژ), who has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Among the 22 Bahais whose sentences have been reduced, Shohreh Samimi is the wife of Shahnam Jadhbani, while Kamelia Bideli is the wife of Navid Moalem (whose name was previously reported as Navid Moalemi (نوید معلمی)).

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Bahai shop windows broken in Aq Qala city

Campaign against the harassment of Bahais, January 21, 2016.

In the early hours of January 21, unknown people broke the show windows of a Bahai-run shop selling wedding dress accessories in the town of Aq Qala, about 15 kilometers from Gorgan, in Golestan province. The shop has previously been closed by the local authorities several times because its owner, Neda `Abdeyan (ندا عبدیان) is a Bahai. Because Bahais are considered “unclean” they are bared from working in a variable list of economic sectors. Mrs `Abdeyan previously ran the same shop as a beauty salon, and when the local authorities decided that a Bahai could not work in that sector, she changed her line of business and re-opened the shop.

On May 19, 2015, Saham News published a copy of the previously secret list of sectors from which Bahais are banned (by that time the list was already five years old, and incomplete). It says that Bahais may not work in cultural, educational or financial institutions, and are not to be allowed to work in the sectors of periodicals, jewelry, watchmaking, print-making, tourist agencies, car rentals, publishing and bookshops, photography, film-making, internet gaming, computers, or internet cafes. They may not own printing works or hotels and other accommodation for travellers, or teach tailoring skills. The order refers to the widespread Iranian belief that Bahais are unclean, and requires the police bureaus to block them from restaurants, cafeterias and catering, food ingredients and foodstuff sales, takeaways (Iranian-style), cafes, butchers shops, supermarkets, the production and sale of ice-cream, fruit juice, soft drinks, pastry and sweets, and coffee.

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Final trial of the Gorgan Bahais

HRANA, January 3, 2016.

On December 27, 2015, the Revolutionary Court in Gorgan, in Iran’s Golestan Province, held the eighth and last in a series of trials of the Bahais who were arrested in the Province in October, 2012, and later released on bail. The trials are being conducted by Judge Qanbari (قاضی قنبری). On this ocassion the Bahais on trial were Puna Sana’i ( پونه ثنایی), Sheyda Qadusi (شیدا قدوسی) and Hana Kushkabaghi ( هنا کوشکباغی ). As in the seventh trial, on November 18, 2015, the defendants were not summoned and were not present at the closed trial, but they and their lawyers had been given an opportunity to present a defence [in writing]. In the seventh trial, which was not reported on Sen’s Daily, the accused were Meriam Dehqan (مریم دهقان), Houshmand Dehqan (هوشمند دهقان) and Kamelia Bideli (کاملیا بیدلی). In the past year about 20 Bahais from Gorgan have been tried, two or three at a time, on charges such as propaganda against the regime, undermining national security, and membership and participation in Bahai religious activities. The sentences have not been announced [a ‘guilty’ verdict may be assumed, as Bahais are never “not guilty” in Iranian courts].

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Three more Bahais tried in Gorgan

HRANA, October 21, 2015.

On October 12 a court in Gorgan, in Iran’s Golestan Province, held the sixth in a series of trials of the Bahais who were arrested in the Province in October, 2012, and later released on bail. The accused at this trial were Mitra Nouri (میترا نوری) and Shiva Rouhani (شیوا روحانی), both from Gorgan city, and Navid Moalemi (نوید معلمی) from Gonbad-e Qabus. They were charged with “propaganda against the regime.” There was no Prosecutor present, and the defendants were summoned orally. In September this year the court tried Soudabeh Mehdinezhad ( سودابه مهدی نژاد ), Rufeya Pakzadan ( روفیا پاکزادان), who was also reported to have been tried on July 3, and Nazi Tahqiqi (نازی تحقیقی).

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Three Bahais tried in Golestan Province

Bahai News (Facebook), September 3, 2015.

A court in Golestan Province (Northern Mazandaran region, capital city Gorgan) has tried three Bahais on charges of “propaganda against the regime.” Their names are given as Soudabeh Mehdinezhad ( سودابه مهدی نژاد ), Rufeya Pakzadan ( روفیا پاکزادان), who was also reported to have been tried on July 3, and Nazi Tahqiqi (نازی تحقیقی). They are among 20 Bahais who were arrested in the Province in October, 2012, and later released on bail.

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Four more Bahais tried in Gorgan

HRANA, July 3, 2015.

The fourth of a series of group trials of Bahais has taken place in Gorgan. This time four Bahai women were tried on charges of propaganda against the regime, apparently connected to a prayer meeting. The sentences have not been announced (a ‘guilty’ verdict may be assumed, as Bahais are never “not guilty” in Iranian courts). Those tried this time are Rufeya Pakzadan ( روفیا پاکزادان), Shohreh Saimi (شهره صمیمی), Parivash Shoja`i ( پریوش شجاعی ) and Tina Mauhabati ( تینا موهبتی ).

Mrs. Pakzadan was not present and had no defence representation, as she had not received a summons. She was arrested on March 18, 2013, and released on bail on April 1. She was charged with membership of Bahai organisations, teaching the Bahai Faith, and communicating with foreign governments. Shohreh Saimi and Parivash Shoja`i were among the Bahais detained on October 16 and 17, 2012, in a wave of arrests of Bahais in Gorgan and Minudasht. Tina Mauhabati, who lives in Tehran, was arrested at the bus station in Gorgan on the evening of October 23, as she was waiting for the bus to Tehran. Her mother, Shiva Rouhani ( شیوا روحانی ) was one of those arrested in the previous week. The four women tried in the last few days (HRANA does not give a date) have been free on bail, which will continue until they begin their jail sentences.

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Three Bahais tried in Gorgan

HRANA, May 2, 2015.

Hana Aqiqiyan (هنا عقیقیان), a Bahai from Gorgan, and Beyta Hedayati (بیتا هدایتی ) and Hana Kushkabaghi ( هنا کوشکباغی ), from Gonbad-e Qabus, were tried in Gorgan on April 25. Mrs Kushkabaghi was not present, as she had not seen the summons. They were among the Bahais arrested in widespread raids in the towns of Gorgan, Gonbad-e Qabus and Minudasht in October 2012. It would appear that they were released on bail after their arrests, although this did not appear in my sources. The trials of these Bahais, in groups of three or four, began in February 2015. The charges against them, named in the summons, include participation in an illegal organisation harmful to security, the propagation and development of the Bahai Faith through Ruhi groups, propaganda for the Bahai Faith and against the Islamic Republic through active participation in Ruhi groups, and cooperation with hostile governments.

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Farhad Eqbali transferred to Raja’i Shahr prison

HRANA, October 21, 2014.

Farhad Eqbali ( فرهاد اقبالی ), a Bahai prisoner of conscience from Gorgan, has been transferred to Raja’i Shahr prison near Tehran, where he is currently in the quarantine unit. Mr. Eqbali was one of about twenty Bahais, and some Muslims accused of associating with Bahais, who were arrested in Gorgan in November, 2012. His 5-year sentence was confirmed by the court of review on August 27, and he began his sentence in Gorgan on the same day. At some stage he was transferred to Evin prison, in Tehran, and now to Raja’i Shahr prison.

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Farhad Eqbali begins 5-year sentence in Gorgan

HRANA, August 30, 2014.

Farhad Eqbali ( فرهاد اقبالی ), a Bahai resident of Gorgan, reported to prison on August 27 to begin serving his 5-year sentence. Mr. Eqbali was one of about twenty Bahais, and some Muslims accused of associating with Bahais, who were arrested in Goran in November, 2012. His sentence was confirmed by the court of review on August 27, and he began his sentence on the same day, although the enforcement unit [of the Ministry of Justice] had asked for his punishment to be postponed because Mr. Eqbali has heart problems requiring advanced medical treatment.

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Bahai businesses in Gorgan targetted by false flag flyposters

HRANA, December 1, 2013

In the city of Gorgan (the former Asterabad, in the North East of Iran), unidentified persons have been putting up posters on the homes and business premises of Bahais. The posters contain citations from the Bahai teachings, and typically Bahai pictures, so as to give the impression that the Bahais have put them up advertise their faith. On the morning of November 28, just as one of the Bahai shopkeepers arrived at his shop and found one of these posters on his window, officers from the local government body that supervises public places and businesses also arrived. They closed his business down for propagating the Bahai Faith. It was not re-opened until November 30.

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One arrest in Gorgan, two Bahais sought

HRANA, May 9

Parisa Shahidi ( پریسا شهیدی ), a Bahai from Gorgan, was arrested by agents from the Ministry of Intelligence, who first searched her home, on May 8. She is the wife of Kamal Kashani ( کمال کاشانی ), one of five Bahais from Gorgan who have been held without trial for more than 6 months in Raja’i Shahr prison, near Tehran. On the same day, agents from the Ministry of intelligence tried to arrest two other Bahais in Gorgan, Mozhdeh Zahuri and Mona Farahani ( مژده ظهوری (فهندژ) و مونا فراهانی (نیکو‌نژاد)), but found neither at home. Mazhdeh Zahuri is the wife of Farhad Fahandezh ( فرهاد فهندژ ), another of the Bahais from Gorgan held in Raja’i Shahr prison.

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Eight Bahais tried in Tehran

PCED, April 24

Seven Bahais from Gorgan, and one from Tehran, were tried in Tehran on April 24. The charges were “organising and running an illegal organisation, membership of an illegal organisation, and propaganda against the regime.” All eight have been held in Raja’i Shahr prison, near Tehran. Their names are Farhad Fahandezh, Fahrmand Sana’i, Siamak Sadri,Kamal Kashani, Fu’ad Fahandezh, Kourush Ziari, Payam Markazi and `Adel Na`imi ( فرهاد فهندژ، فرهمند ثنایی، سیامک صدری، کمال کاشانی، فواد فهندژ، کوروش زیاری، پیام مرکزی و عادل نعیمی). Mr. Na`imi is from Tehran, the other seven are from the Gorgan region. They were among about 20 Bahais who were detained in a wave of arrests on about October 17. (Kourush Ziari is from Gonbad-e Qabus, where he was arrested and later transferred to Gorgan). After some weeks in detention in Gorgan, all seven were transferred to Evin prison in Tehran for interrogation, after which they were sent to Raja’i Shahr prison.

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Mona Amri and Rufeya Pakzadan free on bail

PCED, April 11

Mona Amri Hesari and Rufeya Pakzadan ( مونا امری حصاری و روفیا پاکزادان ), two Bahai women living in Gorgan who were arrested on March 18, were released on bail on April 1. They had been held in Amir Abad prison in Gorgan for 24 days. They have been charged with membership of Bahai organisations, teaching the Bahai Faith, and communicating with foreign governments. Bail for Rufeya Pakzadan was set at 100 million tumans (62,000 euros, $US81,000), and for Mona Amri at 150 million tumans (93,000 euros, $US122,000).

On October 17, 2012, security forces in Gorgan arrested 17 Bahais in a series of coordinated and sometimes violent raids on Bahai homes. Six of these arrestees, and one Bahai from Gonbad who was already being held at that time, were transferred to Raja’i Shahr prison, near Tehran.

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