Baha’i News Release (3-12-79)

          
          BAHAf INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITy
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          IMMEDIM'E RELEASE
          March 12, 1979
          NEWS RELEASE
          A number of Bah '1 Holy Places, properties, and institutions were occupied
          by armed men in various parts of Ir n in recent days. These actions
          received the encouragement of the important religious leaders in Mashad,
          Ayatollah Shirazi and Ayatollah Tabatabai-Qomj.
          The ayatollahs declared that all Bahá'I centers should be occupied and
          all documents confiscated. According to a statement published in the
          March 6 issue of the daily newspaper, Etalaat , Ayatollah Qomi further
          stated that Bahá'Is had “always been spies for the British, Russian,
          American, and Israeli governments.”
          The Bah 'Is fear that such inflammatory statements were designed to justify
          further harassment of Bah 'I communities and the occupation of all Bahá'I
          institutions.
          In Mashad alone, the local Bah 'i center was occupied, and t ienty—eight
          Bahá'I homes were raided by armed men claiming to be from the Revolutionary
          Committee. Books and other properties were also rerroved from these places.
          BP000096
          
        

          
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          The incident in Mashad added to the occupation of Bah 'I Holy Places in
          Ir n, including the house in which Bahá'u'1l h, Founder of the Bahá'I
          Faith, was born. The publishing offices at the Bahá'I National Center,
          as well as the local Bah 'I center in Tehran, have also been closed and
          sealed; books and documents were removed from these places by armed men.
          The house of Bah 'u'lláh in Takur, the house of Hujjat in Zanjan, and
          the house of Qudd Is in Babul -- all holy places for the Bahá'Is -- have
          also been occupied.
          The occupation of Bah 'I institutions and properties is the latest in a
          series of distressing developments affecting the Ir nian Bahá'i community
          over the last several months. For example, during the month of December,
          organized mobs attacked Bahá'is -- and their properties -— in Shiraz and
          its environs. As a result of these attacks, over 450 homes were looted,
          burned, or otherwise destroyed. In those events, fifteen Bahá'Is were
          wounded and two were killed.
          The spirit of agressive animosity towards the Bah 'Is spread to several
          centers throughout the province of Fars, including the town of Marvdasht,
          where 31 Bahá'I homes were looted, and the imposing structure of the
          Bahá'I center was razed to the ground.
          Following these events, the wave of persecution spread to the north of
          the country. In several towns and villages of Azerbaijan, and particu-
          larly in Miandowab, the onslaught was severe. In the latter town, the
          first target was the local Bahá'I center, which was totally destroyed,
          and this was followed by the burning or looting of 80 homes and the
          
        

          
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          brutal murder of two Bahá'Is, a father and his son, whose bodies were
          then dragged through the streets, cut in pieces, and consigned to the
          flames.
          The organization of these violent assaults on Bah 'I lives and proper-
          ties has emboldened and incited hooligans all over the country, and the
          oppressed Bah 'Is are constantly under the threat of mass agression
          and assault. These acts of hostility against the Bahá'Is have so far
          cost four lives and the displacement of some 700 individuals who have
          become homeless, as well as millions of dollars in loss of properties.
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          For more information call Victor de Araujo at (212) 867—2930