Iran’s Newest Victims

          
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          THE NEW YORK TINES
          -F
          Editorial
          April 27, 1981
          Iran's Newest Victims
          Iran is no longer in the spotlight; its war with Iraq
          drags on indecisively and a now-Indifferent world
          shrugs off its unending Internal wrangles. This apathy
          perfectly suits Iran's clerical zealots as they silence
          newspapers, jail their opponents and bloodily settle old
          scores. Especially ominous has been their systematic
          execution of adherents of Baha'l.
          Though it has followers around the world, Baha'i Is
          an unoffending creed with no friends in power in Iran.
          In nine months, Baha'is have been killed in Teheran,
          Tabriz, Yazd and Shira.z. Baha'i shrines have been
          demolished, property has been confiscated and Baha'is
          have been fired from their jobs.
          Last August, nIne members of the Baha'i govern-
          ing board were seized by revolutionary guardsmen and
          have since vanished. And now Iran's High Court of Jus-
          tice has ruled that just belonging to Baha'i institutions
          justified the execution of two Baha'Is in Shira.z; that
          created “discord and disunity amongst Moslems.”
          The Baha'i faith originated in Iran in 1344 and has
          evolved into an independent world religion. Its adher'-
          ents believe that a single God has been revealed in pro-
          gressive revelations. Because it has roots in Islam, It
          has been viewed as heretical by the Islamic clergy.
          What has made Baha'is more vulnerable is their rela-
          tive prosperity and professional success — tempting
          scapegoats In a revolutionary country with a flounder-
          ing economy and an aimless war.
          Of Iran's religious minorities, the Baha'is are the
          largest, with about 500,000 adherents in more than 500
          localities. But disturbingly, the faith is not listed
          among the religions acknowledged by name in Iran's
          Islamic constitution. With the High Court's recent nil-
          ing, a match has been thrown on a bonfire.
          Iran's critics have little influence with the mullahs
          in Teheran, meaning that Iran's third-world friends
          have an obligation to speak out, before another reli-
          gious blood-letting shames a supposedly modern world.
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