3 Baha’i Sect Members Executed, Iran Reports (Los Angeles – 3/19/81)

          
          I s xig ,e1es. Times, Thursday, 19 March 1981, page 22 (part 1).
          
          3 Ba a ct mbers
          Execv d ir. ii Repc:1
          BEIRUT (c—Three Iramans eriberc c/ the ? thai
          reilinous sect, have, been executed on charges of
          preaching their faith and spying for L-eel,'the fficiaI
          — ‘ a ” an a at'enc Pars aia / eQres iay
          The three were executed Monday aft a trial bcfore
          - t he l lamic. Revolutionary Court in Shiraz, a.southern
          Iranian city, the agency said. The sect said.a..firlng
          so ao cameo out ne exec, tions
          -1n Wilmette, lit, the Bairni Natieoal 'Center ' issued a '.
          : statement saying the executed rariia is were “innocent °
          victims of a campaign to eradicate the Sahal community
          A ‘in Iran.” .. - -
          Psrs said that defendant Mebdi nvai1 -Naiti'was
          iiharged with having close con ets witaüarganiza-
          . tion in Haifa, lsraet, that Pars described as “a Zionist”
          venture of esn oT'age”
          r Another defendant, identified as “Colonel Vahdat,”'
          was accused of being ‘one of the foremost Zionist spies
          who cooperated with the Savak (the secret police under:
          the Shah of Iran) and with recent insurgeacies.'
          • ‘ .Pars said the third defendant, known as 'Hedayatóllàh
          flehkani aas ace useà 01 “nnsleacLng mc scernmg peo-
          . e, esneelaily in rural regions, and,recewlng corres-
          pondence.e agmg Tds activity from' the na iona1
          ixc1eUeade pinitheBahais.” -:.. “
          .j . Theflahai religious sect is an offshoot of Babisni, ‘
          Persian religion fo .mded in'Iran in 44. It espouses.uni- .
          ‘i 'ersal brotherhcod'and social equality and commands a
          !‘ considerable failowing in the United States, with 7,OOO
          P rches ‘The !aith will not disclose the number of its',.
          followers.-' . -• •, .. . - .. . . • - . .., . ‘
          :‘The Iaith is .considere h reticol '.to .I 1am and is
          bánnedinjnogt. 'abeounthesas.weflaslran,.wbichis
          “ Persian but Muslim. - ‘ - • .;
          iran's Islamic constitution does nOt recognize the Bay '
          hal faith. lts world headquarters is in Haifa. at the siteofj
          the tomb of its iounder,'.who was buried there in the
          19th Century; before the birth of the Zionist state of
          rael. : • ,, ; ‘ - . . .
          Bahai leaders say that although their headquarter8 is
          ‘in Haifa, they have no connection with Zionism. -“. ‘‘
          • • , - ‘
          BP000235