GENEVA — The Baha’i International Community today categorically rejected new allegations by the Iranian government that arms and ammunition were found in the homes of Baha’is who were arrested in Tehran last Sunday.
“This is nothing less than a blatant lie,” said Diane Ala’i, the Baha’i International Community’s representative to the United Nations in Geneva. “Baha’is are by the most basic principles of their faith committed to absolute nonviolence, and any charge that there might have been weapons or ‘live rounds’ in their homes is simply and completely unbelievable.
“Without doubt, these are baseless fabrications devised by the government to further create an atmosphere of prejudice and hatred against the Iranian Baha’i community. For more than a century Baha’is have suffered all manner of persecution in Iran and have not resorted to armed violence, and everyone knows this. Unfortunately, the Iranian government is once again resorting to outright falsehoods to justify its nefarious intentions against the Baha’i community. It should know that these lies will have no credibility whatsoever.
“We are particularly concerned by the fact that these accusations come just days before the scheduled trial of seven Baha’i leaders, who have been locked up for nearly two years on equally unfounded charges,” she said.
