IRAN: Religious issues and persecution – Monthly Digest March 2025
Christians
Denying prisoners religious books, instruction violates rights – UN rapporteur
Article 18 (28.03.2025) – Providing detainees with access to their holy books and religious instruction should be considered among the “minimum standards” that States must respect in order not to violate their rights, according to the UN’s Special Rapporteur (SR) on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB).
“Places of deprivation of liberty must allow individuals to participate in spiritual and religious activities, to receive education, including religious instruction, to keep religious books [and] to receive visits from spiritual or religious representatives,” says Nazila Ghanea in her latest report, which was presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva earlier this month.
The suffocation and slow death of the Anglican Church in Iran
Article 18 (25.03.2025) – Two Easters ago, the retiring Anglican archbishop responsible for the ailing diocese of Iran – Cyprus-based Englishman Michael Lewis – received a visit from a handful of his Iranian congregants.
“If the Archbishop can’t come to Iran, Iran will come to the Archbishop!” read a Twitter post on the account of the Jerusalem and Middle East Church Association (JMECA), under which the Iranian diocese falls these days, bereft of a bishop of its own.
“Over recent years it has been difficult to obtain visas in order to facilitate episcopal visits to the Diocese of Iran, which made the opportunity for five people, both clergy and lay, from Anglican churches in Iran to visit with the Diocese of Cyprus, even sweeter,” explained an article on the JMECA website.
Christian convert suffers stroke after 35-day hunger strike
Article 18 (24.03.2025) – A Christian convert who had been on hunger strike in Tehran’s Evin Prison for 35 days to protest against the continued persecution of Christians in Iran has suffered a stroke.
Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, who is 63 years old and previously spent nearly five yearsin prison on account of his Christian faith and activities, was found facedown in his solitary-confinement cell last Monday, 17 March, in Ward 209 of the prison, which is under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence.
Fact-finding mission ‘only scratched surface’ of Iran’s religious discrimination
Article 18 (18.03.2025) – The UN’s fact-finding mission (FFM) on Iran says it has only “scratched the surface” in “exposing the structural and institutional discrimination” against religious minorities, and called for the establishment of a follow-up body to investigate these and other rights violations.
Speaking as part of an interactive dialogue at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today, alongside the UN’s Special Rapporteur (SR) on Human Rights in Iran, the FFM’s Viviana Krsticevic said “more investigations into the unaddressed root causes [of religious discrimination were] required”, and that this was “one of the reasons” the FFM was recommending a renewal of its mandate, “as continued scrutiny is essential”.
Iran’s religious minorities face ‘systemic discrimination, arbitrary detention, unfair trials’ – UN Rapporteur
Article 18 (14.03.2025) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran says religious and ethnic minorities in the country “face systemic discrimination, including arbitrary detention [and] unfair trials”.
In her first report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mai Sato named Christian converts among the religious minority groups who “experience restrictions on their cultural practices, language rights and religious freedom, along with limited access to education, employment and economic opportunities”.
Baha’is
Continued imprisonment of Sepehr Ziaei; a look at the latest situation of this Baha’i citizen
Article 18 (24.03.2025) – Sepehr Ziaei, a Baha’i citizen imprisoned in Evin Prison, is currently serving the 30th month of his sentence. Thus far, this Baha’i citizen’s requests for leave and for a retrial have been denied.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists in Iran, Sepehr Ziaei is serving his prison sentence in Evin Prison.
A source close to this Baha’i citizen’s family confirmed the news to HRANA, stating: “Mr. Ziaei has been in prison since approximately late September 2022, and so far, the authorities have rejected his requests for leave. Their refusal of his most recent request for leave was also communicated to him on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Additionally, two separate requests for a retrial by this Baha’i citizen have been rejected by Branches 9 and 39 of the Supreme Court. He is currently being held in Ward 4 of Evin Prison.”
‘I can’t be your mommy anymore’: Baha’i woman’s letter before 7-year prison sentence
Iran press watch (19.03.2025) – Three days ago Anisa Fanaeian, an Iranian Baha’i woman in Semnan, was arrested by Islamic Republic security forces and taken to prison. Fanaeian had been sentenced in March 2024 to seven years in prison, on charges “forming groups to act against national security,” “educational activities and propagating against Sharia Islam,” and “propaganda against the regime,” which are the usual propaganda terms the Iranian government uses to try to distract from the facts.
What was Anisa’s true crime? Being a Baha’i – Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, and a persecuted group – who cares for others.
Now in a letter to her two children, Anisa describes the hardships she, her family and all Iranian Baha’is face as a result of state-sanctioned persecution. “I can’t be your mommy anymore,” she says to her teenage daughter and son. “It will be hard, but life is hard … this will still be an important chance for you to grow, be strong, and learn.”
Iran escalates persecution of Baha’i citizens: women bear the brunt
Iran Press Watch (19.03.2025) – The Islamic Republic intensified its persecution of Baha’i citizens over the past Persian year, with women facing particularly harsh treatment.
Official data reveals that 246 Baha’is – 142 women and 104 men – were subjected to government actions ranging from imprisonment to workplace closures between March 2024 and March 2025.
The number of Baha’i prisoners increased from 24 to 30 over the year, with women making up more than half of those behind bars.
As members of Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, Baha’is continue to face systematic discrimination.
Iranian Rights groups confront persecution of Baha’is at Un session
Iran Press Watch (19.03.2025) – Iranian civil society organizations convened in Geneva on Monday to present evidence of human rights violations in Iran with a focus on the persecution of Baha’is.
The session, held during the UN Human Rights Council meeting, included discussions on minority rights, state repression, and accountability.
A panel hosted by the Baha’i International Community, the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, and the Impact Iran coalition examined the systematic targeting of Baha’is. The event featured Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, alongside prominent rights advocates.
Iran’s government condemned at United Nations for blatantly denying Baha’i cemetery desecrations
Iran Press Watch (11.03.2025) – Iran’s government was rebuked by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Professor Nazila Ghanea, who in strong remarks said the Islamic Republic could not “hide” its violation of the right of Baha’is to bury deceased loved ones.
The exchange occurred last week at the current session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), in Geneva, after an Iranian representative denied findings in the Special Rapporteur’s report A/HRC/58/49 on freedom of religion or belief and the prohibition of torture and other cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, that “members of the Bahá’í faith [are] being prevented from burying their dead in available cemetery land and instead being forced to bury their dead on top of a mass grave site.”
Movement restrictions with electronic ankle monitoring; Tahereh Nowrouzi’s sentence enforced
Iran press Watch (03.03.2025) – Today, Saturday, the sentence of Tahereh Nowrouzi, a Baha’i citizen residing in Shiraz, was enforced. She will serve her sentence with movement restrictions outside the prison under the supervision of an electronic ankle monitor.
Based on information received by HRANA, this Baha’i citizen has been sentenced to one year of restricted movement outside the prison under electronic monitoring. The sentence was enforced today, Saturday, March 1, after she appeared at the Shiraz Prosecutor’s Office for the execution of sentences.
A close associate of Nowrouzi told HRANA regarding her sentence: “Tahereh is the mother of two young children, and due to her husband’s job in another city, the movement restrictions imposed on her will also create challenges for her children.”