Iranian authorities arrest 12 Bahai members, accusing them of espionage and involvement in recent anti-government protests, continuing a long-standing pattern of persecution.
PARIS: Iranian authorities have arrested members of the Bahai religious minority, accusing them of involvement in recent protests.
The Tasnim news agency reported the intelligence ministry said a 32-member network was identified, with 12 main agents arrested and 13 others summoned.
Authorities accused the group of being active in what they call “riots and acts of vandalism”.
The ministry claimed the network was active across Iran, including in Tehran, with its main hideout located in Mashhad.
Iran’s Bahai community, the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, faces regular persecution.
The Islamic republic has long accused Bahais of being spies linked to Israel.
The arrests follow weeks of demonstrations sparked by economic hardship, which grew into the largest protests against the government in over three years.
Protests have subsided after a crackdown that rights groups say left thousands dead.
Human Rights Watch stated in 2024 that Iran’s “decades-long systematic repression of Bahais… amounts to the crime against humanity of persecution”.
The exact number of Bahais remaining in Iran is unclear, but supporters believe several hundred thousand may still reside there.
