On Friday July 25, 2008, at 5 in the morning, the personal vehicle of Suhail Na’imi was destroyed through arson as it was parked in front of his house. Mr. Na’imi is a Baha’i and lives in Rafsinjan. He is also a member of “khadimin” - a supervisory committee appointed in each town charged with coordinating Baha’i activities and attending to the community’s needs. According to neighbors, the arson took place by two individuals on motorcycles. Emergency police and fire engines arrived at the scene and prepared a report of the incident. The Muslim neighbors were most gracious towards the Na’imi family and strongly condemned this terrorist act.

Some time ago, Mr. Na’imi and 10 other Baha’i families in Rafsinjan had received warning letters [threatening them because of their religion.]

In most countries, arson is considered one of the most expensive crimes against property. It is very dangerous to know that there are people willfully setting fire to homes in otherwise peaceful neighborhoods in Iran. This case should be investigated and the criminals should be arrested for the sake of public security, and the human rights of the innocent Baha’i minority.

Mihran Shakir and his family are Baha’is and live in Kerman. For some time, Mrs. Shakir had been receiving threatening phone calls (presumably for being members of the Baha’i community). When the family attended the commemorative meeting on the night of Baha’u'llah’s Ascension, their car parked on the street was firebombed. Fortunately, the friends at the gathering had noticed the fire and quickly put it out by a fire extinguisher. The car was not damaged very much.

But during the early hours of Friday, July 18, the Shakir’s home was burned completely and arson is suspected. It so happened that the Shakirs had left for the weekend and no one was home or injured by this incident. The report notes that at 4 in the morning, one of the neighbors was disturbed by smoke and had immediately telephoned the fire department. By 5 am the fire engines arrived, had extinguished the fire and began an investigation. Soon it was learned that one of the neighbors had heard a soft expulsion about 3:30 am, but had not thought much about it. Someone else had also noticed suspicious activities on the roof. The investigators believe the fire started in the living room and initially thought it occurred because of problems with the electrical wiring. However, that appears unlikely since the fire had generated a heat so intense that it had bent thick iron bars used in the ceilings. All the furniture and interior of the house were either completely destroyed or seriously damaged.

Pictures of this horrific incident: