The lack of legal safeguards results in instituted discriminatory policies and practices, 6
particularly targeting Baha’is. In 1991, the Government institutionalized a policy against Baha’í
citizens in a memorandum entitled ‘The Baha’í Question’, produced by Iran’s Supreme
Revolutionary Cultural Council and approved by the Supreme Leader. The document outlines a
series of measures aiming at restricting Iranian Baha’ís access to education, economic and
cultural life. Although the Government affirmed that the Baha’is had not been singled out for
discrimination,7 the document remains in force today. On 26 March 2018, the Supreme Leader
Ali Khamenei issued, via his website, a new religious decree (fatwa) concerning “association and
dealing with Baha’ís”. He stated that, “[y]ou should avoid any association and dealings with this
perverse and misguided sect.”8
While Iranian law theoretically forbids the investigation of individual beliefs, discrimination
against member of religious minorities in access to employment is institutionalized through the
practice of gozinesh, a mandatory screening process that anyone seeking employment in the
public sector must undergo.9 The gozinesh criteria not only bar adherents of non-recognized
religions from seeking employment, but also disadvantage anyone who holds views contrary to
the official values of the Islamic Republic. Baha’is, for instance, government jobs including jobs
in civil service, education, and law are frequently denied to Bahai’s.10 Baha’is also face serious
restrictions in the private sector. For example, the authorities have refused to issue commercial
licenses to Baha’is and have shut down scores of Baha’i-owned businesses for closing on Baha’i
holy days.11 Since 2013 until 2019, there have been more than 803 incidents of violations of
economic rights of the Baha’is, including arbitrary shop closures, unfair dismissal from
employment and the actual or threatened revocation of business licenses.12 13
Reportedly, Iranian authorities “systematically seal Bahá’í-owned shops, giving spurious reasons
for doing so.”14 Applicants for business licenses in general are asked to sign a form declaring
6
Article 23, The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran
http://www.iranchamber.com/government/laws/constitution_ch01.php
7
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
8
Baha’i International Community, https://www.bic.org/sites/default/files/pdf/iran/the_bahais_of_iran__a_persecuted_community.pdf
9
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
10
Baha’I International Community, https://www.bic.org/focus-areas/situation-iranian-bahais/current-situation
11
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
12
Baha’i International Community, www.bic.org/sites/default/files/pdf/iran/overview_of_persecution-0119_2.pdf
13
https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rights-Denied-Violations-against-ethnic-and-religious-minorities-inIran.pdf page 35; Baha’I International Community, ‘Their Progress and Development are Blocked’: The Economic Oppression of
Iran’s Baha’is https://www.bic.org/sites/default/files/pdf/the_economic_oppression_of_irans_bahais_151030.pdf
14
Baha’I International Community, https://www.bic.org/sites/default/files/pdf/iran/overview_of_persecution-0119_2.pdf at 7
2