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NEW YORK — As a number of Baha'i educators appear in court in Iran, two Nobel Peace Prize winners have sharply criticized the Iranian government, comparing its actions to "the Dark Ages of Europe" or the "Spanish Inquisition."

The remarks by Desmond Tutu, the Anglican Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, and Jose Ramos-Horta, President of East Timor, appear in an open letter to the academic community published today in the Huffington Post, under the title "Iran's war against knowledge."

In the letter, the Nobel laureates call upon the Iranian government to release unconditionally and drop charges against the seven Baha'is currently on trial in Iran for their educational activities.

"The forward progress of humankind in the last centuries has been fueled, more than any other factor, by increasing access to information, more rapid exchange of ideas, and in most parts of the world, universal education," they write.