The Czech Presidency of the EU released a statement on the trial of seven members of the Baha´i community in Iran.
- The English version is available here.
- La version française est disponible ici.

'The Office' actor Rainn Wilson authored this commentary on stopping religious persecution of Baha'is in Iran.

The piece appeared on CNN

CNN reports on an open letter entitled "We are ashamed" written by Iranian intellectuals for "a long history of the country's mistreatment of members of the Baha'i faith."

The letter in its entirety can be found online in English and Farsi, by searching: iran letter we are ashamed.

Elika Mahony has made several tracks from her CD Fire and Gold,
available for free download.

Details are available on the link below:
http://www.elikamahony.com/blog/2008/10/28/a-world-in-turmoil/

Her music is comprised of Baha'i sacred texts, sung and set to music.
Quite a delightful treat!

Trees destroyed in Baha’i cemetery, Isfahan, on 28 September 2008.

Source: BWNS

- More arson, spate of attacks in Kerman province:
At least two dozen attacks, including acts of arson and vandalism,
have been reported in Rafsanjan in Kerman province in recent months.

- Government promotes petition against Baha'is:
A week after an anti-Baha'i petition was displayed prominently at a
major event in Tehran, a similar signing event occurred in the city of
Qom. Both came during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting.
In Tehran on the third Friday of Ramadan (19 September) -- when huge
crowds gather at a special enclosed area to hear Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei lead prayers and offer a sermon -- the petition was positioned
where worshippers would sign it as they entered. Officials from the
Ministry of Intelligence were on hand to gain the maximum number of
signatures.

A second signing event was set up the following Friday in the city of
Qom at the time of the annual Jerusalem Day march, which involves
sloganeering against the "Zionist regime" and against the United
States. The petition was on display at the entrance of the Khomeini
Mosque, which encloses the Shrine of Fatima Masoumeh -- one of the
holiest spots in Iran for Shiite Muslims.
People who signed were given a pamphlet with the text of the petition
and additional false information about the Baha'i Faith and the
Baha'is.

- Baha'i leaders still in prison; Nobel Prize winner continues in their defense:
The seven members of the Baha'i coordinating committee remain in Evin
Prison in Tehran but have finally been allowed brief visits with their
families. No announcement has been made of formal charges, or a
possible trial, although in early August a government prosecutor was
quoted in the press as saying the individuals had "confessed" to
operating an "illegal" organization with ties to Israel and other
countries -- charges categorically denied by the Baha'i International
Community.

Mrs. Shirin Ebadi -- a prominent Iranian human rights attorney who is a
Nobel laureate -- maintains that she and her colleagues at the
Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran are prepared to defend the
jailed Baha'is, despite criticism and false accusations leveled at her
and her family because of their involvement, including charges that
she or her daughter have become Baha'is. Mrs. Ebadi is a Muslim, and
the Baha'i International Community confirms that neither she nor her
daughter have ever been Baha'is. She has stated that attorneys have
been denied access to those in jail. (For more information about Mrs.
Ebadi, see official Baha'i statement dated 12 August 2008.)

- At least 22 Baha'is currently in jail:
There are at least 22 Baha'is in jail in different parts of Iran who
are imprisoned because of their religion. At any given moment, there
may actually be more than this number, but sometimes Baha'is are
detained overnight and released, or they may be allowed out on bail
after depositing with the court a sum in cash or surrendering business
licenses or titles to property.

- Hundreds of young trees cut down at Baha'i cemetery:
In the early hours of 28 September, the Baha'i cemetery in Isfahan was
vandalized by unknown individuals, who systematically felled hundreds
of young trees and set fire to a storeroom where furniture and tools
were kept. The crime was reported to authorities both at the local and
national levels.

The continued destruction and defacement of Baha'i cemeteries belies
the government assertion that it monitors Baha'is due to "security
concerns." Also, the fact that much of the destruction is done by
heavy equipment shows that it is not being perpetrated by small-time
vandals.

"We are gravely concerned about the fate of these three Baha'is, who
are being held without charges in a case that is clearly based on
religious persecution," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative
of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.

"Although the three have lived in Yemen for more than 25 years, they
hold Iranian passports and we have come to believe that the Yemeni
government may be planning to deport them to Iran, where the
government is waging a systematic campaign against Baha'is.

"While calling for their immediate release, our primary concern today
is to ask that the Yemeni government resist any impulse to deport
these three Baha'is to Iran â€" or any other country. Deportation to any
country for three individuals with well established businesses and
families for their religious beliefs would be grossly unjust, but
deportation to Iran, where they face the possibility of torture, would
be a clear violation of international human rights law," said Ms.
Dugal.

Source news.bahai.org/story/651

Guysen TV carried an interview with the representative of the Baha'i
International Community, regarding the recent arrest of the 7 Baha'is
in Iran, and the subsequent Iranian accusation of their involvement
with Israel.

http://www.guysen.com/tv/?vida=2494

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WSJ contributor Benjamin Balint comments on the Baha'i Faith,
following the recent adding of the Baha'i Holy places in Israel to the
Unesco World Heritage list (http://news.bahai.org/story/642).

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121755160850702963.html

-- The home of the family Mehran Shaaker of Kerman, Iran, was gutted by fire
on 18 July. Family members had received theatening phone calls, and their car
had been the target of a recent arson attempt.

-- On 15 July at 1:15 a.m., Molotov cocktails were thrown into the
front courtyard of the home of Khusraw Dehghani and his wife, Dr. Huma
Agahi, in Vilashahr, only months after anonymous threats directly
related to her being a Baha'i forced Dr. Agahi to close her clinic in
nearby Najafabad where she had practiced medicine for 28 years.

-- On 25 July, the car of a prominent Baha'i in Rafsanjan, in Kerman
province, was torched and destroyed by arsonists on motorbikes. Soheil
Naeimi, the owner of the car, and 10 other Baha'i families in the town
had received threatening letters from a group calling itself the
Anti-Baha'ism Movement of the Youth of Rafsanjan that, among other
things, threatened jihad (holy war) against the Baha'is.

-- On 10 June, an outbuilding on the property of the Mr. and Mrs.
Mousavi, elderly Baha'is living in the village of Tangriz in Fars
province, was destroyed by fire when it was doused with gasoline. The
Mousavis, along with their two sons who were sleeping close to the
building, narrowly escaped injury when the gasoline tank used to start
the fire exploded. The Mousavis believe that the perpetrator thought
they were all sleeping in the hut when he set the fire. Mr. Mousavi
issued a formal complaint against the person they suspected, but the
legal office has declined to pursue the case because the suspect swore
on the Qur'an that he was not guilty. Out of respect for the Qur'an,
the Mousavis have dropped the charges.

-- On 4 April, the home of a Baha'i was set on fire in Babolsar, in
the north of Iran.

-- In February in Shiraz, a 53-year-old businessman was attacked on
the street, chained to a tree, doused with gasoline, and assaulted by
unknown persons who then attempted to throw lighted matches at him.

-- Also in Shiraz in February, several arson attempts were made
against vehicles and a home belonging to Baha'is.

-- On 1 May 2007, arson destroyed the home of 'Abdu'l-Baqi Rouhani in
the village of Ivil, in Mazandaran.

-- In Karaj, the burial section of a Baha'i cemetery was set on fire.

Source: http://news.bahai.org/story/645