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THE NEW YORK TINES
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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.
BP000602
