Iran: Baha'i Faith

(asked on 22nd November 2022) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to work with the international community to address reports of the persecution of the Baha’i community by the Iranian state.


Answered by
David Rutley Portrait
David Rutley
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 30th November 2022

The Baha'i community in Iran is systematically persecuted by the Iranian regime. Reports indicate the regime redoubled repression, with expropriation, repossession of land, destruction of homes, and increasing detention of Baha'is. Minister for the Middle East and Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, stated on 5 August that Iran's persecution of religious minorities was a serious human rights violation and could not be tolerated by the UK.

The former Minister for Africa reiterated our commitment to holding Iran to account at the Westminster Hall debate of 11 October. The UK raised the Baha'i at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Third Committee on 26 October and pressed for the inclusion of the Baha'i in the UNGA Resolution which passed on 16 November. We continue to raise human rights with the regime at all appropriate opportunities, both directly and in multilateral fora.

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