Two Letters – Iranian Baha'is – Farhang Replies

IRANIAN BAHAIS N.E. Vienna, Va.

Mansour Farhang writes in his article on Iran [“Khomeini’s Reign of Terror,” The Nation, Jan. 30] that “human liberation in one part of the world is ultimately inseparable from liberation in other parts.” Farhang’s interview’ on The MacNeil-Leluer Report three years ago gave the impression that he did riot believe in liberation for Bahais. Has he changed his mind? Has he the courage to denounce the persecution of the Bahais in Iran, including the recent execution of the member’s of the Bahai National Assembly and the Bahai assembly of Teheran? Does he advocate amending the Iranian Constitution so that it protects Bahais as well as Moslems, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians? Does he believe that Bahais should be left in peace and given freedom like everyone else? If Farhang fails to respond, many of us will know what to think, about the fine words of his article.

John Huddleslon  

FARHANG REPLIES February 27, 1982  Princeton, N.J –  

I have never made an extensive study of the treatment of Bahais in Iran, nor have I written about it. My unfortunately phrased remarks, to which Huddleston alludes have interpreted to mean something other than what I believe. The execution of more than 4,000 Iranians during the past’ seven months demonstrates beyond doubt that Khomeini has set out to eliminate anyone he arbitrarily defines as a threat to his rule. Among the victims of this shocking assault, the Iranian Baha’i are the only people whose persecution, which includes confiscation and destruction of property, as well as summary arrests and executions, is motivated solely by fascistic aggression without any provocation whatsoever. For the Baha’is in Iran pose no threat at all to the regime.   The truth is that not only have the Baha’is been persecuted for more than a century but they, have also been the most vulnerable of all the religious ‘minorities in the country. This has been the case regardless’ of what ideological or political orientation happens to be in power.   Shaykh Moharnrped Taghi Falsafi, an anti-Baha’i preacher and a passionate supporter of the 1953 coup, is currently one of Khonieini’s -favorite mullahs and a very important person in his ruling circles. Furthermore, the present government in Iran is heavily influenced by Anjoman-e Hojjati’yeh, an anti-Bahai organization that was founded in the mid- 1950s. Even though Anjoman-e Hojjati’yeh never took part in prerevolutionary opposition politics, after the revolutionary victory of 1979, its members joined the elements that formed the Islamic Republican Party. President Said-Ali’ Khamenei and Foreign Minister, Ali-Akbar Valayati have been active in Anjoman-e Hojjati’yeh for years.   Since the early months of the revolutionary victory and particularly since the forced resignation of Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan in November 1979, the Khomeini regime, just like the Shah’s regime during the 1955-56 period of state-led persecution of the Baha’is, has increasingly ‘repressed its progressive political opponents and used the Baha’is as scapegoats. However, there is no comparison between the brutality inflicted on dissidents and Baha’is in 1955-56 and the present period. Khomeini is far more brutal than the Shah ever was.   The Baha’is and other religious minorities in Iran are not, as in the past, merely faced with intolerance and opportunistic exploitation of their vulnerability. They are, rather, confronted with a fascist totalitarian system whose ideology rejects diversity and coexistence. No protection could be gained by amending the Constitution, a fascist document that should be abolished rather than altered. Therefore, the struggle for religious freedom in Iran is inseparable from the struggle for the complete destruction of the regime itself. And it is imperative that the crimes and the repressive policies of the regime be exposed as widely as possible. Such a campaign should make a special effort to reach the Islamic world and focus on the violations of the human and democratic rights all Iranians.  

Mansour Farizang