Economic Apartheid in Iran

The Baha’i international community addresses Islamic Republic president Hassan Rouhani.

MERNA – Many reports indicated, in the early days of the Islamic Revolution (1979), thousands of Iranian Baha’i employees of government ministries, departments, and other entities were expelled from their posts without any compensation; their pensions were terminated, and some were even forced to pay back the salaries earned during their years of employment. Once Bahá’is had been completely barred from government jobs, attention was turned to the private sector.

Various methods, such as pressuring companies to dismiss their Bahá’í employees, forcing banks to block their Bahá’i clients’ accounts, and using discriminatory tactics to prevent projects being awarded to appropriately qualified Bahá’is, were used to severely limit the economic activities of the Bahá’is in this sector.

Iran Wire quoted, in September Baha’i International Community has written  to President Rouhani, urging him to put an end to this sustained campaign of economic apartheid. The  letter signed by Bani Dugal, Principal Representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations.

The letter describes what it was like after the revolution, when thousands of Baha’is working for government ministries and departments or for state-run companies and factories faced expulsion without any compensation, and how Baha’i establishments were seized. And it describes how today, the persecution continues. The letter states that this systematic discrimination is “economic apartheid”.

“How can the deliberate policy of a government be to impoverish a section of its own society?” the letter asks Rouhani, and argues that Iran’s leaders strike such a blow not only to its largest religious minority, but also to the prosperity of the whole country. 

“Economic and social rights of the Baha’is have been severely curtailed since 1979’s Iranian revolution. But in recent years we have noticed a shift. They’re really trying to curtail the capacity of the Baha’is to exist as a viable community by going after their very foundation, their very existence, cutting off their potential to earn a living, to send their young people from going to university. Their licenses are being taken away, their shops are being closed; their homes have been confiscated because they set bail amounts so high that they end up losing their homes as collateral”. Said  Bani Dugal to Iran Wire.

The letter continues to outline problems which the Bahá’i community faces in the present day, under Rouhani’s administration, and is worth reading in its entirety.

The Baha’i International Community also published a short publication provides a number of supporting documents that prove the depth and degree of Iran’s oppressive economic policies.