September 06-13
The Baha’i International Community reports that a leader of the Baha’i community in Bandar Abbas has been murdered because of his faith.
The Baha’i World News Service said the body of Ataollah Rezvani was found Saturday, August 24, in his car near the railway station on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas.
“Rezvani was shot in the back of his head,” it said. “Information received thus far points to the possibility that his assailants had forced him to drive to that location.”
Ir said, “From the available information, it is now clear that the murder… was religiously motivated.”
The news service said Rezvani, who was about 50 years old, was expelled from college after the revolution because of his religion.
It said he had recently been dismissed from his job “owing to pressure and threats from agents of the Ministry of Intelligence.”
Furthermore, “These agents had also been bringing pressure to bear on him to leave the city. More recently, he had begun receiving menacing telephone calls.”
The Baha’i International Community says that since 2005 nine Baha’i citizens have been killed in Iran under suspicious circumstances and 52 have been assaulted by unidentified persons. None of these has been pursued by the Judiciary, the Baha’i say.
They further say that since August 2004, a total of 677 Baha’is have been arrested by the authorities. As of February, 107 remained in prison.