Dear Baha'i Friends,
 
            The National Spiritual Assembly has just received the following email from the Universal House of Justice, advising of the arrest this morning of six of the seven members of the Friends in Iran, who join a seventh imprisoned since 5 March 2008.
 
'The Universal House of Justice has directed us to convey to you the gravely distressing news just now received that the members of the Friends in Iran--the group that coordinates the activities of the Baha'i community in the absence of a National Spiritual Assembly in the Cradle of the Faith--have been summarily and unjustly arrested by the Iranian authorities in raids conducted in the early hours of this morning, 14 May 2008.  Details are as follows.

 
'Officers of the Intelligence Ministry in Tehran entered the homes of six of the seven members of the Friends in Iran, whereupon they conducted extensive searches, following which all six were arrested and brought to the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran.  These individuals--Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi [Fariba Kamalabadi], Mr. Jamalu'd-Din Khanjani [Jamaloddin Khanjani], Mr. 'Afif Na'imi [Afif Naeimi], Mr. Sa'id Rida'i [Saeid Rezaie], Mr. Bihruz Tavakkuli [Behrouz Tavakkoli], and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm [Vahid Tizfahm]--now join the seventh member of the group, Mrs. Mahvash Thabit [Mahvash Sabet], resident of Tehran and Secretary of the Friends in Iran, who has been held in custody since 5 March 2008 when she was summoned to Mashhad by the Ministry of Intelligence, ostensibly on the grounds that she was required to answer questions related to the burial of an individual in the Baha'i cemetery in that city.  Contrary to recent indications that Mrs. Thabit would be released some time soon, the events that have transpired today are yet another indication of the government's determination to extinguish the Baha'i community in the land of its birth. 

 
'As you are aware, such dire action on the part of the government has not been witnessed since the heart-rending events in 1980 and 1981, when all nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran were abducted on 21 August 1980 and disappeared without a trace, following which the reconstituted National Assembly was again ravaged by the execution of eight of its members on 27 December 1981.  

 
'The members of the peace-loving, non-violent Baha'i community of Iran-- the country's largest religious minority--have been made more vulnerable through this wholly unwarranted action.'

 
            Through its external affairs offices, the National Assembly is coordinating a vigorous campaign to inform government, non-governmental organizations and media of the profound concern of the Baha'i community, calling upon them to take the strongest possible steps to protest this alarming action. 
 
We are sharing the House of Justice's letter with you immediately to request your ardent prayers for these steadfast servants of the Blessed Beauty and the Baha'i community in Iran.  In addition, we ask you to be ready to take steps locally to contact government and media upon our further advice.  You may feel free to share this information with the community, assuring the friends that action is being taken and requesting their prayers.

 

At the International Convention, a vase of resplendent red roses in the middle of the stage, a gift of the believers in Iran, was a potent reminder of their sacrifices.  In a letter dated 2 January 1986, the Universal House of Justice wrote that 'Shoghi Effendi perceived in the organic life of the Cause a dialectic of victory and crisis.'  That the grievous news of these arrests should come so quickly on the heels of so many victories around the world, speaks once again to this truth.

 

                                                           With loving Baha'i greetings,

 

                                                           Karen McKye, Secretary