US Condemns Destruction Of Baha'i Graves In Iran
The US State Department's Office of Religious Freedom on Thursday condemned the destruction of 30 graves of Baha'i citizens in Tehran, as government persecution against the minority continues.
The US State Department's Office of Religious Freedom on Thursday condemned the destruction of 30 graves of Baha'i citizens in Tehran, as government persecution against the minority continues.
"We condemn the destruction of 30 graves by authorities at the Khavaran Cemetery near Tehran this week," the office said in a statement. "Baha'is in Iran continue to face violations of funeral and burial rights."
The act, which involved the removal of grave markers and the flattening of resting places using bulldozers, was also slammed by rights activists, the latest in a series of actions taken against the community which has been systematically targeted since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979.
The statement also noted other methods of pressure and intimidation. “We have also seen the regime dramatically increase Baha’i property seizures and use sham trials to subject Baha’is to extended prison sentences,” the statement said. “We will continue to use all available tools to confront the regime’s human rights abuses.”
Simin Fahandej, Representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations in Geneva, said, “In the last few months, the deceased loved ones of the Baha’is have been forcibly buried by government agents in the Khavaran mass grave site, further desecrating a burial place sacred to many.
Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Tehran's Baha'i community owned two large cemeteries, both of which were confiscated by the Islamic Republic in the 1980s.
Unofficial estimates suggest that more than 300,000 Baha'i people live in Iran. However, the Constitution officially acknowledges only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, thereby rendering Baha'is the most significant non-Muslim religious minority in the country. Iran's clerical rulers regard the Baha'is as heretics.
Reza Amiri Salehi's comments in the centrist Entekhab website appeared shortly after an election on March 1 with the lowest turnout in the 45-year history of the Islamic Republic.
The website quoted Amiri, a former Minister of Culture under President Hassan Rouhani's administration, as stating: "You cannot speak of effective governance in a country where 60 percent of the population goes to bed hungry." Amiri emphasized that Iran is grappling with an ever-growing segment of its population facing hunger.
Amiri also highlighted that all cultural institutions in Iran are mired in stagnation, and there is a prevailing belief among Iranians that change is inevitable. Speaking at the annual gathering of the Iranian Association of Political Scientists, Amiri noted that widespread despair has eroded the government's social capital, while widening social disparities have pushed society to the brink of a perilous collapse.
The former minister further underscored the lack of discourse and viable solutions within Iran's institutions to address the current predicament. He observed that while society is moving towards change, the government persists in outdated policies due to the absence of a viable governance model.
"Iran is entangled in a faulty governance cycle and the government does not realize the need for change," Amiri said, adding that latest elections in Iran were a good manifestation of the failure of the political system. The government is inefficient and incapable of meeting the nation's demands, he noted.
Iranian analyst Ali Hossein Ghazizadeh told Iran International TV on Thursday "following such a low-turnout election, any responsible government would have been introspective about the reasons behind public dissatisfaction. However, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his associates prefer to rely on a like-minded minority to suppress and silence the majority. What could prompt change is the people's discontent."
Meanwhile, Iranian journalist Ali Shirazi told Iran International TV, referred to Khamenei’s long-standing anti-US ideology and said that in a recent speech, Khamenei advised newly elected members of the Assembly of Experts to continue the policy. “However, he failed to address the consequences of his longstanding opposition [to the US], which has led to sanctions and economic challenges for the people. Khamenei has never been held accountable for the repercussions of severing Iran's ties with the West."
Shirazi added, "In recent years, we have witnessed various segments of Iranian society, including teachers, workers, and government employees, demand social justice based on legislation passed by the Iranian parliament but never implemented. This renders Khamenei's emphasis on social justice meaningless."
Furthermore, Shirazi questioned Khamenei's pledge to combat corruption while serving as the senior Iranian official responsible for the corrupt government for over three decades.
In another development, former influential lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh talked about the implications of the recent low-turnout election and the government's inefficiency regarding the country's national security. He called the elections a total failure for the government, which will have consequences.
He said the low turnout showed that the people believe elected institutions in Iran are not efficient. They also believe their votes cannot change their own fate. On the other hand, impolite comments by the novice politicians against experienced lawmakers and their own patrons have introduced them to the nation as individuals with no principles.
Falahatpisheh stressed that the government's disregard for the views of the 60 percent of eligible voters who abstained from voting poses a threat to Iran's national security and serves no one's interests.