Sorena Kiyani

‎"Iran should immediately end practices aimed at barring Baha’i students from attending ‎universities, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should quickly resolve the ‎situation of some 800 Baha’i students whom it prevents from obtaining their educational records ‎and completing the university admission process." This was an except from a statement released ‎by the Human Rights Watch on September 20th, on the eve of the commencement of the ‎academic year in Iran. ‎

Baha'is in Iran face many restrictions. Simin is a Baha'i girl who lives in the city of Isfahan. She ‎tells Rooz, "we face a dual restrictions, one is legal and governmental restriction which revokes ‎many of our rights in employment and education, and the other is the unkind treatment of some ‎fellow citizens who despise us. Although most people are not unkind, nevertheless there are ‎some who, under the influence of official propaganda, view us as dangerous or problematic." ‎

Pouya is another yound Baha'i who was stripped of the right to pursue higher education because ‎of his religious orientation. He thinks that problems related to employment and education are the ‎most pressing facing Iranian Baha'is. Pouya's father was a university professor who was fired ‎from his job during the Cultural Revolution of the early 1980s. Pouya says, "I received a ‎university PhD degree prior to the revolution and was hired by the university afterward, but now ‎I have to sell food items so that I and my family don't die of hunger." ‎

Iranian Bahai's protest the government's one-sided and harsh attacks on their faith. They claim ‎that the Iranian government intends to misrepresent the Baha'i faith. Simin is an Iranian writer ‎and translator who is unable to publish any of her works, simply because of her religious ‎orientation. Simin tells Rooz, "the wave of propaganda against Baha'is in the press and state-‎owned newspapers is very serious." She recalls the eight-year tenure of reformist president ‎Mohammad Khatami as the only time after the revolution where restrictions against the Baha;is ‎were eased. About 200 Baha'i students were allowed to enter the university during that time. ‎Simin adds, "at that time, we had submitted several complaints, all of which were backed by ‎evidence. Finally, thanks to Mr. Khatami's help and persistence some changes were enacted, but ‎we quickly lost hope as all the 200 students were gradually kicked out of the university. I was ‎kicked out after only a semester even though I had near perfect scores." ‎

The Center for Defense of Human Rigths, led by Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, is among a ‎handful of organizations based in Iran that follows issues related to Baha'is. Earlier this year, the ‎Center hosted a forum in which a Baha'i student who was admitted to study nuclear physics at ‎the university but was later suspended got a chance to share his story and problems facing the ‎Baha'i community in Iran. ‎