Iranian authorities.30 House churches are often being raided by the government on the basis that they do not hold necessary permits from the authorities. Attendees are arrested and imprisoned on charges of “acting against national security by organizing and conducting house-churches” or “propaganda against the state and insulting the sacred Iranian establishment”.31 The end of 2018 and 2019 saw an unprecedented wave of raids on private house gatherings related to religion or belief, leading to a large number of arrests detention and imprisonment.32 Charges include “breaching national security” or “propaganda against the holy regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.33 The Baha’i faith, with members numbering an estimated 350,00034 in Iran, is not recognized under Iranian law and does not have any official place of worship. Since August 2005, more than 1,253 Baha’ís have been arrested in Iran solely on the basis of their religious beliefs.35 The lack of places of worship and the regular dismantling of religious informal meetings frustrate the rights of religious minorities to manifest a religion or belief. The threat of raids, arrests, detention and imprisonment for those identified as belonging to certain religious minorities disincentivizes community and public manifestation. The lack of legal safeguards enables the Iranian authorities to criminalize activities such as attending a house church or being part of religious conferences as criminal acts on the basis that they can threaten the existence of the Islamic Republic and thus constitute a national security threat.36 The Iranian judiciary has reportedly used articles such as 498, 499 and 500 of the Iranian Penal Code to prosecute minority faith adherents, including non-Shia Muslims, for such activities on charges related to national security.37 38 30 Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee from The World Evangelical Alliance, Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Middle East Concern, Article 18, 29 May 2020 , https://articleeighteen.com/wpcontent/uploads/2020/06/F3430b-2020-JointReport_Iran_HRCttee_ListOfIssues-dragged-1.pdf 31 Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee from The World Evangelical Alliance, Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Middle East Concern, Article 18, 29 May 2020 , https://articleeighteen.com/wpcontent/uploads/2020/06/F3430b-2020-JointReport_Iran_HRCttee_ListOfIssues-dragged-1.pdf 32 Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee from The World Evangelical Alliance, Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Middle East Concern, Article 18, 29 May 2020 , https://articleeighteen.com/wpcontent/uploads/2020/06/F3430b-2020-JointReport_Iran_HRCttee_ListOfIssues-dragged-1.pdf 33 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 34 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 18 July https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N19/222/62/PDF/N1922262.pdf?OpenElement 35 Baha’i International Community, https://www.bic.org/sites/default/files/pdf/iran/the_bahais_of_iran__a_persecuted_community.pdf 36 Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee from The World Evangelical Alliance, Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Middle East Concern, Article 18, 29 May 2020 , https://articleeighteen.com/wpcontent/uploads/2020/06/F3430b-2020-JointReport_Iran_HRCttee_ListOfIssues-dragged-1.pdf 37 Articles 498 (“establishing a group that aims to disrupt national security”), 499 (“membership in a group that aims to disrupt national security”), and 500 (“spreading propaganda against the system”), Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2013), Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/islamic-penal-code-of-the-islamic-republic-ofiran-book-five/ 38 Rights Denied: Violations against ethnic and religious minorities in Iran, https://minorityrights.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/03/Rights-Denied-Violations-against-ethnic-and-religious-minorities-in-Iran.pdf 5