Iran’s leaders lose no opportunity to remind the world of their painful efforts to show “respect” and “tolerance” the Baha’i community. The latest proclamation came from Najafabadi, Iran’s Prosecutor General who stated that “the Iranian government has provided the Bahai sect in Iran with all the facilities offered to other Iranian citizens” and has “always showed great kindness to the Bahai citizens in Iran”.

That the citizens of Iran have had their rights violated by the Iranian regime is a well-documented fact, but what distinguishes the persecution of Iranian Baha’is is that the government refuses to acknowledge their legitimacy as a community. Since the Islamic Revolution:

• Over 200 Baha’is have been killed, the majority of whom were executed after refusing to recant their faith.
• The government has made no effort to investigate attacks against members of the Baha’i community, let alone prosecute its perpetrators.
• Prominent Baha’i sites have been demolished (and in some cases replaced with Islamic centers) and shrines and cemeteries have been desecrated.
• In fact, the government has adopted a policy by which it denies Baha’is access to education, employment and any “position of influence”.

Najafabadi went on to state that the government offers Baha’is “a variety of services”. In light of the above we ask, “What services?”