Iran – religious freedom profile

Executive summary

Since the 1979 revolution, Iran’s religious and ethnic minorities have suffered gross human rights violations, including extra-judicial and judicial killings, incommunicado detentions, confiscation of property, denial of education and inequality in legal matters. Although the intensity of the persecution of minorities decreased during the initial years of reformist President Khatami’s government, the last years of his administration and the government of President Ahmadinejad have seen a renewed deterioration in human rights. During the last three years, there have been fresh waves of arrests, detention and intimidation of non-Muslims, particularly of Muslim converts to Christianity and of Baha’is.

Current political turmoil in the country has placed religious minorities in a precarious position. They share the desire for a democratic Iran with their compatriots, yet at the same time they are often accused of being ‘Western spies’ or ‘Zionists’. CSW is concerned that contemporary power plays within the Islamic regime might result in the further marginalisation of non-Muslims as an imagined 5th column in the country.

This briefing seeks to present an overview of the situation of non-Muslim minorities in Iran and highlight current concerns.

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