HRANA News Agency – Security forces recently searched the homes of 14 Baha’i citizens in Karaj and Qazvin, arresting two of them—Fariba Misaghi in Qazvin and Erfan Eshraghi in Karaj.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists in Iran, on Monday and Tuesday, at least 14 Baha’i citizens’ homes were raided in Karaj and Qazvin, leading to the arrest of two individuals.

Based on HRANA’s findings, the homes of Baha’i citizens Peiman Reza, Pejman Reza, Mehraneh Motlagh Arani (Reza), Nazila Raisi, Nava Ansari, Nasim Ansari, Homa Sha’abanpour, Shamisa Shahbazian, Farhoud Yazdani, Alice Teimouri, Erfan Eshraghi, and Shoghi Tebiani in Karaj, as well as Sogand Rangraz and Fariba Misaghi in Qazvin, were searched by security forces. During these searches, electronic devices, personal belongings, and religious materials related to the Baha’i faith were confiscated.

Fariba Misaghi and Erfan Eshraghi were arrested by security forces and taken to an undisclosed location.

A relative of the Reza family told HRANA: “Peiman, Pejman, and their mother live in a three-story building, and security forces searched all three units separately.”

Another informed source, speaking about Nava and Nasim Ansari, told HRANA: “At 7:45 AM on Monday, security forces simultaneously entered their homes and began searching them without any explanation. The officers confiscated phones, laptops, personal notebooks, books, pamphlets, photographs related to the Baha’i faith, and personal documents belonging to them and their family members.”

According to the Department of Statistics and Publications of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA), between January 1, 2024, and December 20, 2024, a total of 157 reports were recorded in the category of religious and faith-based minority rights. Among these, Baha’is accounted for 67.54% of the reports, ranking as the most observed group in human rights monitoring.

The Baha’i faith is not recognized as a legitimate religion by Iranian authorities, leading to systematic and longstanding violations of the rights of Baha’is in the country. This includes the denial of their fundamental right to practice their religion, which constitutes a clear breach of both Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The United Nations covenant holds that every person has the right to freedom of religion, freedom of converting religion, as well as freedom of expression, individually or collectively; openly or secretly.