Bibliography 2: #BIB39775

Key	BIB39775
Reference type	Report
Title	Faith Under Siege : Documenting the Crackdown Against Religious Minorities in Iran After the 12-Day War
Author	Hooman, Armita
Year	2025
Date	December 19, 2025
Publisher	Iran), NUFDI (National Union for Democracy in
Place published	[Place not stated]
Abstract	For over four decades, the fear described in the quote above has stalked Iranians. Every time the Islamic Republic faces an external threat, it cranks up oppression at home. Every crisis is used as justification to tighten surveillance and intensify human rights violations, with the most marginalized groups, like the religious minorities, always getting the brunt of state violence. The 12-Day War, which began on June 12, 2025, has been no different. In just over two months, Islamic Republic security forces arrested1 more than 21,000 people for “espionage,” “ties to the exiled opposition,” or simply “sharing unauthorized footage of the war” on social media. But behind each statistic is a person, a name, a face, a life. While the world is preparing to celebrate Chanukah and Christmas, religious minorities in Iran are being tortured, forcibly disappeared, detained, and persecuted just for the “crime” of following their faith. What initially grabbed our attention was the statement published2 by the Ministry of Intelligence. In this statement, the Ministry portrays several religious minorities as threats linked to foreign conspiracies. It accuses the Baha’i community of acting under the direction of its center in Haifa, Israel, framing them as agents in a “Zionist–monarchist project.” The statement also distinguishes between “loyal” Christian minorities (Armenians and Assyrians) and Christian converts, whom it labels as “Zionist missionaries” tied to churches outside of Iran, claiming to have arrested 53 of them and even falsely alleging the discovery of weapons. Groups of converts are lumped together with opposition groups, all described as tools of the U.S. and Israel. This report restores what repression tries to take away: individuality. Focusing on those with the least voice, this booklet portrays members of religious minorities who were persecuted after the 12-Day War broke out. These profiles, gathered by NUFDI from credible human rights sources, represent only a fraction of the silenced. Here we share the names, faces, and stories of Iranians targeted in this latest episode of a decades-long campaign of eradication. Each profile is an act of remembrance and resistance. May these pages serve as a testimony and a call for freedom and equality for all Iranians.
Notes	Bahá'í Faith: pp. 21-37, 38 n7 n11, 39 n17, 41 n44-55, 43 n89.
Language	English
Keywords	PERSECUTION; IRAN; 2025
Pages	[1], 43
Institution	NUFDI (National Union for Democracy in Iran)
File attachments	internal-pdf://1904920230/Hooman - Faith-Under-Siege - 202512.pdf

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