TEHRAN: Iran has arrested 12 members of the Bahai religious minority, accusing them of links with the Islamic republic’s arch enemy Israel, state media reported late Saturday.
Iran brands Bahais “heretics” and often accuses them of being spies linked to Israel, as their world headquarters are located in the northern Israeli city of Haifa.
“The General Directorate of Intelligence in Mazandaran province has identified and arrested 12 members of the Bahai Zionist organization in different cities of the province,” reported Iribnews, the state television website.
“Two of the leaders of this spy organization were trained in Bayt-al-Adl,” the Bahais’ Universal House of Justice in Haifa, it said about those arrested in the northern province.
Iran, where Shiite Islam is the state religion, recognizes minority faiths including Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism, but not Bahaism with followers estimated to number 300,000 in Iran.
Iran’s intelligence ministry had last announced in early August that it had arrested Bahais suspected of spying and of working illegally to spread their religion.
They had been instructed to “infiltrate educational environments at different levels, especially kindergartens across the country,” the ministry said then.
In December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on Iran to end human rights violations against minority religions including the Bahais, citing “harassment, intimidation, persecution, arbitrary arrests and detention” among other breaches.
The Bahai faith is a relatively modern monotheistic religion with spiritual roots dating back to the early 19th century in Iran, promoting the unity of all people and equality.
The Bahai community claims to have more than seven million followers worldwide.
Iran arrests 12 Bahais accused of links to Israel
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Iran arrests 12 Bahais accused of links to Israel
- Iran brands Bahais “heretics” and often accuses them of being spies linked to Israel
Shrapnel from bombing kills woman in Iraq: health, security officials
KUT: Shrapnel killed a woman following a strike on an arms depot belonging to an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq, health and security officials told AFP.
A security source said “a bombing targeted an arms depot at a military base,” which mainly hosts the powerful Asaib Ahl Al-Haq group, near the town of Al-Suwaira, southeast of Baghdad.
He added that “a woman was martyred when shrapnel from a rocket fell near her after the strike” in the town in Wasit province.
A local health official confirmed her death and said another person was seriously wounded.
The military base belongs to the Hashed Al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilization Forces, a former paramilitary coalition now integrated into Iraq’s regular army.
It also encompasses brigades from Iran-backed groups, including the US-blacklisted Asaib Ahl Al-Haq.
Since the start of the Middle East war, bases belonging to the Hashed Al-Shaabi have been hit several times by strikes blamed on the US and Israel.
At least 20 fighters have been killed so far, according to an AFP tally based on figures from the armed groups.
Iraq, long a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, had said it did not want to be dragged into the war, but it has not been spared.
The US designates several Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups as terrorist organizations.
Some of these groups hold seats in parliament and have seen their political and financial clout increase, such as Asaib Ahl Al-Haq.
