To the sore-tried and faithful followers of the Beloved of the world in the Cradle of the Faith

We have received very sad news of recent upsurge in persecution of the friends in Iran. The Universal House of Justice sent a message to the friends in Iran on this very topic on the 23rd of August 2022.

[AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION FROM PERSIAN]

23 August 2022

To the sore-tried and faithful followers of the
Beloved of the world in the Cradle of the Faith

Dear spiritual sisters and brothers, bearers of the Trust of God and protectors of the precious Cause of the Abhá Beauty,

Reports received from the sacred land of Iran attest the intensification of the unrelenting injustice and cruelty which, from the time of the appearance of the first effulgence of the Sun of Truth above the horizon of that land until the present day, have been endured by the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in that country. The news tells of all types of discrimination and of assaults on the most basic civil rights of the Bahá’ís, including the arrests of innocent people and subjecting them to great pressures, attacks on the dignity and the private homes of Bahá’í citizens, the confiscation of their property and belongings and the destruction of their houses, the denial of higher education to Bahá’í youth, and even instances of individuals being prevented from earning a livelihood. Alas, a thousand times alas, that ignorant prejudices and ingrained malice have so possessed the hearts of some of those in authority that they have entirely abandoned truth and reality and, resorting to the use of force and relying on their ranks and positions, they have spread out an array of oppression and tyranny, of greed and avarice. Not only have they robbed the Bahá’ís in that land of their undisputed rights but—by spreading untruths and calumnies against the community to which no informed and fair-minded person any longer pays heed, and by making empty and unfounded accusations, not a single meaningless and self-contradictory word of which any sound mind takes seriously—they have also undermined and damaged their own reputation and credibility in the eyes of the public. What is there except prejudice, bigotry, malice, and enmity that can thus extinguish understanding and reason and motivate the advancement of claims so untenable and specious that they would fail to deceive even a child, let alone the astute and perceptive people of Iran? Deceit and slander on such a scale are a grievous sin, and these false and irrational claims are a grave insult to the understanding and intelligence of the inhabitants of Iran and a mockery in the face of all the people of the world.

Letter of UHJ to the Friends in Iran

The friends in Iran received a letter from the Universal House of Justice dated 8th of May 2017. In the midst of such sad conditions, the Universal House of Justice lifts the spirit of the friends.