Iran’s protest crackdown expands to religious persecution

Iranian authorities announced on Saturday the arrest of members of the Baha’i community, accusing them of involvement in recent protests against the regime. 

According to the state-linked news agency Tasnim, the Ministry of Intelligence claims to have dismantled a so-called “espionage network” tied to the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority.

This narrative is neither new nor credible. It is repression by another name.

The Baha’i community has long been a convenient scapegoat for the Islamic Republic. Regarded as heretics by the regime and falsely portrayed as “Israeli agents” because of their historical world center in Haifa, Baha’is are routinely targeted whenever the authorities feel threatened. This latest wave of arrests follows the same pattern: dissent crushed, minorities blamed.

Tasnim reported that 32 Baha’is were identified, with 12 allegedly arrested and 13 summoned, accused of participating in “riots” and “acts of vandalism.” Their supposed “main base” was said to be in Mashhad, with activity extending to Tehran and across the country. No independent evidence was provided. None ever is.

These arrests come amid a brutal crackdown on nationwide protests that erupted nearly three weeks ago. According to experts and human rights organizations, the repression has left thousands dead. Instead of addressing the roots of public anger, the regime has chosen violence and paranoia.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei made the regime’s intentions explicit on Saturday, calling on authorities to “break the back of the seditious” and once again blaming an alleged American plot.

 It is the language of fear, not confidence. A government that must demonize peaceful believers to survive has already lost its moral authority.

The persecution of Baha’is in Iran is not incidental. It is systematic. 

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, they have been denied basic rights: education, employment, property ownership, and legal protection. In 2024, Human Rights Watch concluded that Iran’s treatment of Baha’is constitutes a “crime of persecution against humanity.”

The Baha’i faith, founded by Bahaullah in the 19th century, is peaceful and monotheistic. Its followers preach unity, nonviolence, and coexistence. That is precisely why the ayatollahs fear them. Independent belief is intolerable in a system built on ideological control.

No one knows exactly how many Baha’is remain in Iran today. Estimates suggest several hundred thousand. What is certain is that they live under constant threat, arrested without cause, imprisoned without trial, and accused without proof.

By targeting the Baha’i community, the Islamic Republic once again exposes its true nature: a regime that survives by persecuting minorities, crushing dissent, and rewriting reality. This is not law enforcement. It is state-sponsored religious oppression.

The world should stop pretending otherwise.