their religion.15 Documented economic abuses since 2018 also include rejection of bank loan
applications, raids on business inventory, and wrongful firings of Baha’is after pressure from
intelligence officials.16
Additionally, thousands of Baha’i employees have been denied access to pension funds.17 18
Many Bahá’ís who had lost economic benefits, such as pensions, were offered the opportunity to
get their rights back if they converted to Islam.19 20
As of February 2021, the Islamic Republic of Iran has not taken steps to ensure that members of
the Baha’i community are protected against discrimination and exclusion in every field,
including denial of employment and benefits of the pension system.
B. The Committee also recommends that the Islamic Republic of Iran take steps to
guarantee, in law and practice, the unhindered access of Baha’i students to
universities and vocational training institutions.
The Iranian government continues to bar Baha’is from Iran’s state-run university system.
Baha’is are either not allowed to enroll or are expelled subsequent to registration. In fact, Iran’s
Court of Administrative Justice has ruled that the 1991 memorandum by the Supreme Council of
Cultural Revolution prohibits admission of Baha’is to Iran’s universities.21 In September 2019,
the Minister of Education publicly declared that students indicating an affiliation with an
unrecognized religion could be banned from school for spreading propaganda.22
In 2018, 50 Baha’i students were reportedly expelled from Iranian universities.23 In 2019, at least
22 Baha’i students were reportedly denied entry to universities in Iran despite successfully
passing the national admissions test.24 25 In some cases, applicants who challenged their
rejections were not given answers. In other cases, officials informed them that they were rejected
15
Baha’I International Community, https://www.bic.org/sites/default/files/pdf/iran/overview_of_persecution-0119_2.pdf at 7
Baha’I International Community, https://www.bic.org/sites/default/files/pdf/iran/overview_of_persecution-0119_2.pdf at 7–8.
17
https://www.bic.org/sites/default/files/pdf/iran/overview_of_persecution-0119_2.pdf
18
https://iranbahaipersecution.bic.org/archive/manouher-baghdadi-not-entitled-salary-and-pension
19
https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/5975fdb74.pdf at 15
20
Id.
21
Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee from All Human Rights for All in Iran, Association for Human Rights in
Kurdistan – Geneva, Association for the Human Rights of the Azerbaijani People in Iran, Iran Human Rights Documenttion
Center, OutRight International, Siamak Pourzand Foundation, Small Media, Impact Iran, 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_NGO_IRN_42317_E.pdf
22
https://ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IR/Report_of_the_SecretaryGeneral_on_the_situation_of_human_rights_in_the_Islamic_Republic_of_IranA4320.pdf
23
Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://iranhumanrights.org/2018/09/in-just-six-months-iranian-universities-expelled-50bahai-students-for-their-religious-beliefs/
24
https://www.en-hrana.org/22-iranian-bahais-were-denied-higher-education-in-september?hilite=%27Baha%27i%27
25
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 18 July 2019,
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N19/222/62/PDF/N1922262.pdf?OpenElement
16
3