Fourteen young Baha’is arrested in Qaemshahr

Iran Wire, September 2022. –

During the afternoon of 31 August, agents of the Ministry of Intelligence in Mazandaran province raided the home of a Bahai, Mojir Samimi, in Qaemshahr, and arrested eleven young Bahais from Qaemshahr, Sari and Babolsar during a religious study meeting. The Bahais were reading prayers and religious books.

Officers also arrested Afnaneh Nematian, Mojir’s mother, and transferred all twelve people to the Sari Intelligence Department.

“Officers went to the house of one of the detainees, named Bita Haqiqi, and searched this house without showing the warrant,” an informed source told IranWire. “And another group of security agents stormed the home of two other Bahais in Qaemshahr, Golban Fallah and Sanaz Hekmat Shaar, and searched their homes, without showing a warrant, and confiscated books and works related to the Bahai faith. Both of them were also arrested.”

The informed person further said that, after following up, families of the detainees found out that all fourteen were transferred to the detention center of the Sari Intelligence Department. Two of the families managed to meet with one of the people responsible for their children’s detention. The officer told them that if their children cooperated, they would be released, but that if they did not then they would continue to be detained.

The names of the fourteen arrested Bahais are Afnaneh Nematian, Mojir Samimi, Samia Qolinejad, Basir Samimi, Mehsa Fathi, Negar Darabi, Hengeme Alipour, Mani Qolinejad, Nazanin Goli, Sam Samimi, Sanaz Hikmat Shaar, Bita Haghighi and Anis Sanai.
افنانه نعمتیان- مجیر صمیمی- سامیه قلی نژاد- بصیر صمیمی- مهسا فتحی- نگار دارابی- هنگامه علیپور- مانی قلی نژاد- نازنین گلی- سام صمیمی- ساناز حکمت شعار- بیتا حقیقی- انیس سنایی- گلبن فلاح

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.

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

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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`Ali Ahmadi begins prison term in Qaemshahr

Iran News Wire, August 28, 2021. –

On August 26, `Ali Ahmadi (علی احمدی) was arrested and transferred to Qaemshahr Prison to serve a one-year sentence. He was arrested on November 20, 2018, by agents who insulting his religious beliefs and calling him “unclean” and “Bahai dog.” They also seized some religious books mobile phone and computer. He was freed on bail on January 2, 2019, after posting bail of 150 million tumans (31,000 euros ; $US 35,000). He was sentenced to 11 years of prison for “spreading propaganda against the state and managing a Bahai organization.” The Review Court for Mazandaran Province reduced this to one year of prison.

He has been arrested several times in the past decade or so. On the first occasion he was sentenced to 10 months in prison, and on the second occasion he was acquitted. In 2011 he was arrested with two others and charged with participation in Bahai activities. He suffers from diabetes, heart problems, and thyroid illnesses.

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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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`Ali Ahmadi’s 11-year sentence confirmed

HRANA, January 14, 2020. –

The Review Court for Mazandaran Province has upheld the 11-year sentence for Mr. `Ali Ahmadi (علی احمدی), a Bahai from Qaemshahr. Mr. Ahmadi was charged with propaganda against the regime and administering Bahai activities, and sentenced by the Revolutionary Court of Qaemshahr. He was informed of his sentence on December 2, 2019, The Review Court confirmed the sentence two weeks later, without holding a sitting, based on the file provided by the Revolutionary Court. Earlier reports said that the Revolutionary Court considered the possession of Bahai religious texts as sufficient to justify the sentence.

Mr. Ahmadi was arrested on November 20, 2018, by agents who insulting his religious beliefs and calling him “unclean” and “Bahai dog.” They also seized some religious books mobile phone and computer. He was held in solitary confinement at the Kachou’i Detention Centre in Sari. He was freed on bail on January 2, 2019, after posting bail of 150 million tumans (31,000 euros ; $US 35,000).

This is the fifth time he has been arrested in the past ten years: On the first occasion he was sentenced to 10 months in prison, and on the second occasion he was acquitted. In 2011 he was arrested with two others and charged with participation in Bahai activities. A previous report said that he is also known as Cheragh-`Ali (چراغعلی) Ahmadi. Another states that he is 60 years old, and works as a rice trader.

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

`Ali Ahmadi sentenced to eleven years in prison

HRANA, December 4, 2019. –

Mr. `Ali Ahmadi (علی احمدی), a Bahai from Qaemshahr, has been sentenced by the Revolutionary Court of Qaemshahr to eleven years in prison for “propaganda against the regime.” He was informed of his sentence on December 2. He was arrested on November 20, 2018, by agents who insulting his religious beliefs and calling him “unclean” and “Bahai dog.” They also seized some religious books mobile phone and computer. He was freed on bail on January 2, 2019, after posting bail of 150 million tumans (31,000 euros ; $US 35,000).

This is the fifth time he has been arrested in the past ten years: On the first occasion he was sentenced to 10 months in prison, and on the second occasion he was acquitted. In 2011 he was arrested with two others and charged with participation in Bahai activities. A previous report said that he is also known as Cheragh-`Ali (چراغعلی) Ahmadi.

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

Mozhgaan Ahmadzaadeh sentenced to six months in Qaemshahr

HRANA, December 6, 2019. –

Mozhgaan Ahmadzaadeh-Fedaa’i (مژگان احمدزاده فدایی), a Bahai from Qaemshahr whose arrest was not previously reported on Sen’s Daily, has been sentenced to six months in prison by the Revolutionary Court, on the charge of propaganda against the regime. She was informed of the sentence on December 2. She was arrested on December 26 last year, when she was driving with her family to a garden they have on the outskirts of Qaemshahr. Her car was surrounded and stopped by four security agency cars. They took her back to her home, which was searched by eight agents. They seized three mobile telephones, a tablet computer, a computer, some flash drives, CD, prayer books, photographs of their children and some religious images. She was taken to the Ministry of Intelligence detention facility, where she was held in solitary confinement for interrogation for one week. She was bailed on January 2, 2019. She was tried by the revolutionary court on November 13, 2019. She has three children; the youngest has just started primary school.

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

Qaemshahr: sentence of Sohayl Haqqdous reduced to 4 months

Campaign for prisoners of conscience, January 23, 2019. –

The Review Court for Mazandaran Province has reduced the sentence of Sohayl Haqqdoust (سهیل حق دوست) to four months. Mr. Haqqdoust, a Bahai from Qaemshahr, was originally sentenced to 12 months in prison. He was arrested on July 25, 2017, for “media reports about the closure of his business.” The agents were accompanied by officials known as the Ansar Hosseini (انصار حسینی), charged with religious affairs in the Province of Mazandaran. Mr Haqqdoust was released on bail on July 29, 2017. His lawyer, Amir Saalaar Daavudi ( امیر سالار داوودی) has been under interrogation in Evin Prison for the past two months.

In April, 2016, 15 Bahai-run businesses in Qaemshahr were shut down by the authorities because they were closed for the Bahai holy day of the first day of Ridvan. One of these businesses was an optician’s shop belonging to Mr. Haqqdoust. On the morning of November 8, 2016, he was one of five Bahais from Qaemshahr who were arrested at the Mazandaran Provincial Governor’s Office, where Bahais had gathered to seek interaction with public officials regarding the closure of Bahai businesses.

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`Ali Ahmadi bailed in Qaemshahr

Campaign for Prisoners of Conscience, January 2, 2019. –

Mr. `Ali Ahmadi (علی احمدی), a Bahai from Qaemshahr, was freed on bail on January 2, after posting bail of 150 million tumans (31,000 euros ; $US 35,000). He was arrested on November 20, 2018, by agents who insulting his religious beliefs and calling him “unclean” and “Bahai dog.” They also seized some religious books mobile phone and computer. He is charged with “propaganda against the regime.” This is the fifth time he has been arrested in the past ten years: On the first occasion he was sentenced to 10 months in prison, and on the second occasion he was acquitted. In 2011 he was arrested with two others and charged with participation in Bahai activities.

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

Sohayl Haqqdoust arrested, released on bail in Sari

Bahai News (Facebook, Persian), July 30, 2017.

Sohayl Haqqdoust (سهیل حق دوست) has been released from the Ministry of Intelligence detention facility in Sari after posting bail. His arrest, not previously reported on Sen’s Daily, took place on July 25, when five agents entered his home without his permission and arrested him for “media reports about the closure of his business.” The agents were accompanied by officials known as the Ansar Hosseini (انصار حسینی), charged with religious affairs in the Province of Mazandaran. Mr Haqqdoust was released on bail on July 29.

In April, 2016, 15 Bahai-run businesses in Qaemshahr were shut down by the authorities because they were closed for the Bahai holy day of the first day of Ridvan. One of these businesses, an optician’s shop, belonged to Mr. Haqqdoust. On the morning of November 8, 2016, he was one of five Bahais from Qaemshahr who were arrested at the Mazandaran Provincial Governor’s Office, where Bahais had gathered to seek interaction with public officials regarding the closure of Bahai businesses. They were released on bail after 9 days in detention.

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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).

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Campaign against Bahai businesses in Mazandaran continues

Various sources, late May, 2016.

Gold News reports the closure of four Bahai-run businesses in Babolsar, which had closed on May 28, when Bahais around the world commemorated the Ascension of Baha’u’llah (13 ‘Azamat in the Bahai calendar). The managers are named as Mr. Mithaq Leqa’i (میثاق لقایی), Farshid Hikmat Sho`ar (فرشید حکمت شعار), Peyman Sahand (پیمان سهند) and Shahin Sana’i (شاهین سنایی).

Gold News also reports the closure of one Bahai-run business in Babol, a stationary shop run by Mr. Baha’ul-Din Samimi (بهاالدین صمیمی).

Bahai News reports that the former employees of the Bureau of Public Places in the city of Qaemshahr, who allowed Bahai businesses there to re-open, have received threats from the Bureau’s Provincial Office, including even death threats. Bahai News states that an agent from the Ministry of Intelligence, who uses the name of “Ansar al-Husseini” (انصار حسینی; Companion of Imam Husayn), is personally responsible for maintaining records for the Bahais and has fabricated cases against them on charges such as “smuggling.”

Meanwhile the Bahais concerned have been told by the Bureau of Public Places that if they want to open their businesses, they should ask the (Universal) House of Justice (in Israel). This refers to recent claims in the state-sponsored Iranian media that Bahais obey the instructions of the House of Justice rather than those of the government in Iran, and calling the Bahai community “a state within the State.” In fact, just the opposite is true: the Bahai teachings specify that the Bahais “in whatever country they reside, … will, unhesitatingly, subordinate the operation of [Bahai] laws and the application of [Bahai] principles to the requirements and legal enactments of their respective governments. Theirs is not the purpose, … to violate, under any circumstances, the provisions of their country’s constitution, much less to allow the machinery of their administration to supersede the government of their respective countries.” (Source). Far from aiming to be a state within the State, the Bahais are fully committed to the separation of the institutions of religion from politics, and this is one reason for their persecution by the theocratic order in Iran. “Go ask the House of Justice” apparently means that the authorities have no intention of allowing Bahai businesses to re-open. Security officials have also told the Bahais that they will be dealt with under the law (which allows them to close their shops for up to 15 days per year, see Article 28.b of the Code of Trades Guilds); that their business have been closed down because they did not open on Bahai Holy Days, which amounts to “teaching the Bahai Faith;” and that their cases would be referred to the Revolutionary Court for prosecution.

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Bahai businesses in Qaem Shahr re-opened, then re-closed

Bahai News, Persian, reports dated May 4 and May 23, 2016.

On April 20, 2016, a number of Bahai-run businesses in Qaem Shahr and other cities on the coastal plain of the Caspian Sea were closed by the authorities. On May 4, 22 businesses in Qaem Shahr and Fereydounkenar were allowed to reopen. There is a slight discrepancy here with our previous report that 16 Bahai businesses in Qaem Shahr and five in Fereydunkenar had been closed down. Now the Bahai businesses in Qaem Shahr have again been closed down, as local authorities sealed the shutters on their premises on May 23 (a Bahai Holy Day). The names of the owners are included in the Persian report of May 23, linked above.

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Fifteen Bahai businesses closed in Qa’em Shahr

Bahai News, April 20, 2016.

Fifteen Bahai-run businesses in Qaem Shahr have been shut down by the authorities because they were closed for the Bahai holy day of the first day of Ridvan. In recent years the local departments of public places in Iran have closed down many of the small workshops and shops on which Bahais must rely for their income, since they are barred from employment in the civil service and in many economic sectors. Bahais are also barred from running businesses in sectors that involve contact with food or personal services, in line with a commonly held superstition in Iran, that Bahais are “unclean.”

The owners of these shops are named as Shahin Senasi ( شاهین سنایی), Sohrab Leqa’i (سهراب لقایی), Changiz Derakshani (چنگیز درخشانیان), Bijan Now`khah  (بیژن نوع خواه), Nima Miri (نیما میری), Sahil Haqqdust (سهیل حق دوست), Baha’ul-din Samimi (بهاءالدین صمیمی), Behnam Mirza’i (بهنام میرزایی), Kurosh Ahmadzadegam (کورش احمدزادگام), Adel Atta’eyan (عادل عطائیان), Kurosh Reza’i (کورش رضایی), Fariborz Sana’i (فریبرز سنایی), Rezvan Golpour (رضوان گلپور), Shahin Akbari (شاهین اکبری) and Farzad Sabeti (فرزاد ثابتی).

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Shahnaz Zanjebur arrested in Qaemshahr

Khabar Navard, October 2

Shahnaz Zanjebur ( شهناز رنجبر ), a Bahai from Qaemshahr, was summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence on September 30, which she obeyed. She was arrested on the same day. Following enquiries by her husband, Parviz Awladi ( پرویز اولادی ), the public prosecutor told him that, since she was not willing to cooperate, a judicial warrant had been issued to transfer her to prison. Following persistent enquiries from her husband, he was told that she was accused of acting against national security and propaganda against the regime. Further enquiries about the duration of her detention remained unanswered. It was eventually discovered that she is being held in the general wing of Qaemshahr prison.

Shahnaz Zanjebur’s home was searched on July 30, when agents from the Ministry of Intelligence seized all the Bahai books and images as well as cassettes and CDs. She was previously arrested in June, 2010, and was held in solitary confinement in the Sari jail for three weeks, before being fined 400,000 tumans. On that occasion the charges were acting against national security and cooperating with Shirin Ebadi ( شیرین عبادی ).

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Bahai homes, workplace and shop searched in Qaemshahr

HRANA, August 3

On July 30, agents from the Ministry of Intelligence raided the home and workplace of Husayn Fana’ayan and Shahnaz Zanjebur ( حسین فناییان و شهناز رنجبر ), two Bahais in Qaemshahr. The agents had a search warrant, and seized a computer, CDs, religious books and photographs. Husayn Fana’ayan and Shahnaz Zanjebur were not at present at the time; the search took places in the presence of their spouses. On the same day, agents from the Ministry of Intelligence, with a search warrant, went to a shop run by another Bahai, Zhekrullah Babayan ( ذکرالله بابایی ), searched it, and told Mr. Babayan that, because he is a Bahai, he would no longer be permitted to sell drink syrups, or other liquids such as sour grape juice (verjus, used instead of vinegar), and that his shop would be closed down if he did so. The agents then searched his home and seized some religious books and images.

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