برای خواندن این مطلب به فارسی اینجا را کلیک کنید
Keivan Rahimian was just 18 years old when he watched agents storm into his home to arrest his father in May of 1983, marking the beginning of a dark chapter for the Rahimian family’s consistent persecution as members of the Baha’i faith. Keivan’s father, Rahim Rahimian, a respected figure in the Baha’i community, had previously been arrested in 1979 following the Islamic Revolution for his involvement in the Baha’i community and for helping fellow Baha’is find safe havens.
In December 1983, the Revolutionary Court of Tehran issued an order to confiscate the Rahimian family’s assets. They were then evicted from their home and forced to pack their belongings into a single suitcase before being thrown out onto the street. With nowhere else to turn, they sought refuge with Keivan’s uncle. Keivan’s father was ultimately executed in 1984 on unclear charges and buried in an unmarked grave in Khavaran Cemetery.
The Islamic Republic has systematically oppressed the Bahá’í community, one of the country’s largest religious minorities with an estimated 300,000 members in 1979. The regime has stripped Bahá’ís of basic human rights, as the Iranian constitution does not recognize the faith and government officials label it heretical. As a result, Bahá’ís are denied the protections afforded to recognized religious minorities. They cannot openly practice their faith or observe religious ceremonies and face continuous violations of their political, social, and economic rights.
The Bahá’í community is barred from public life, denied access to education—particularly higher education—and prohibited from working in government or state-affiliated jobs. Even in the private sector, they face insecurity. Many Bahá’í businesses have been attacked by state-affiliated groups, or sealed by the government for refusing to work on Bahá’í holy days. Arbitrary arrests of Bahá’ís are common, often under fabricated charges.
Discrimination against Bahá’ís in Iran predates the Islamic Republic. Since the faith’s founding during the Qajar era, its followers have been targets of systemic persecution. This continued under the Pahlavi regime, but repression became more intense and institutionalized after the 1979 revolution.
Keivan Rahimian, born in 1965 in Tehran, later became a psychologist and translator as well as an active member of Iran’s Baha’i community, following in his father’s footsteps in both supporting his fellow Baha’is as well as facing persecution for it. Keivan was first arrested in 2004 alongside his wife, Farah Sabhani, though no formal charges were made against them. They were both held in solitary confinement for several days but were eventually released on bail.
Years later, on September 13, 2011, Keivan was arrested again, along with his brother, sister-in-law, and a colleague for their collective work with the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE), an underground university established to provide higher education to Baha’is barred from attending Iranian universities. Previously, they had all been separately interrogated before being summoned to court for their arrest. Keivan was ultimately released on bail a few weeks later, followed by his sister-in-law, but his brother Kamran remained in custody. Despite their arrests, both brothers continued their educational and translation work, even while in prison.
In 2012, Keivan was sentenced to five years in prison and fined for his work with the Baha’i Institute, a verdict upheld on appeal, while his brother and sister-in-law received four-year prison sentences. After his temporary release, Keivan was summoned back to prison in September 2012 to serve his sentence just six months after his wife’s death, leaving his 12-year-old daughter, Zhina, and his young nephew, Artin, in his mother’s care.
Most recently, on July 18, 2023, Keivan was arrested yet again, this time accused of promoting the Baha’i faith through his psychology classes and conspiring against national security. After 45 days in solitary confinement, he was transferred to a five-person security cell, where he remained for 22 days before being moved to Ward 4 of Evin Prison. On February 14, 2024, he was sentenced to nine years in prison, six years of social deprivation, and a fine, which was later upheld on appeal. His prolonged detention as well as the consistent lack of information about his condition deeply affected his elderly mother, who passed away in November 2023. The family was denied permission to bury her in the Baha’i cemetery in Tehran, and was instead pressured by security forces to use graves in Khavaran. Keivan was briefly released to attend her funeral, but she was ultimately buried in an unmarked grave in Khavaran, just as Keivan’s father was decades ago, without the family’s presence.
The Rahimian family has faced continuous persecution, from the confiscation of their property to the imprisonment of numerous family members to the denial of educational opportunities. Most recently in 2022, Keivan’s daughter, Zhina, was barred from registering at university despite passing the entrance exam, which led her to begin her studies at BIHE instead.
Today, Keivan remains in Evin Prison, placed among individuals convicted of financial related crimes, despite regulations requiring the separation of prisoners based on their crimes. In a recent letter from prison, Keivan wrote about the pain of being unable to serve his country and the hope that even the darkest nights give way to dawn.
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) condemns the continued persecution of Baha’i citizens in Iran. No individual should face systemic discrimination or oppression based on their religious beliefs. The Iranian government must adhere to its basic obligations to international human rights standards and release Keivan Rahimian and all other prisoners of conscience.
Back to top