This conference was originally scheduled to be held in Manila, in the Philippines. [Message from the Universal House of Justice dated March 1981]

"... a five-year term for the Counsellor members of the International Teaching Centre. Each term will start on 23 May immediately following the International Bahá'í Convention, and the current term will end on 23 May 1988. Should circumstances prevent the Universal House of Justice from making new appointments at the end of any five-year term, the Counsellors will remain in office until such time as new appointments can be made."

The acquisition, preservation, and maintenance of the places directly associated with the history of the Bahá'í faith had been among the goals of the community since its early years. These places consisted of houses and sites associated with the principal figures of the Faith, burial places of Bahá'í saints, places where the martyrdoms of believers took place, prisons, fortresses, and defense centres of heroes and renowned Bahá'ís. The fact that these places were located throughout the country made their care a major undertaking for various committees at local and national levels. The work included the registration, description, and photographing of the sites in addition to their regular maintenance and restoration. In the late 1960s more than 124 holy places belonged to the faith in various localities throughout the country. There were more than 200 national and 452 local endowments consisting of Bahá'í centres, cemeteries, hostels, and public baths. [Department of Statistics, Baháʾí World Centre, Haifa, "Persia - Nine Year Plan File," 14 January 1969]

In addition the Bahá'is had acquired 3.58 square kilometers of land on the slopes of Mount Alborz, named Ḥadīqa, in northeast Tehran, for the eventual construction of a National Mašreq al-Aḏkār. Although the temple had not yet been built a complex of buildings had been erected on the site to serve as the seat of Bahá'í summer schools and other social and administrative activities. [BW10p48; BAHAISM v. The Bahai Community in Iran by V. Rafati]

• For a description of the Councils and their responsibilities see BW19:162–4.
• The State Bahá'í Council was the forerunner for the Regional Bahá'í Council which was announced on the 30th of May, 1997.

The announcement stunned the journalists at the press conference, who greeted it with first disbelief and then elation. The news spread like wildfire and within hours, thousands of East Germans began flocking to the checkpoints along the wall.

They were met by bewildered border guards, struggling to understand what their instructions were regarding this new policy. At around 22:45, overwhelmed by the sheer number of people arriving and lacking any clear orders, the border guards finally opened the gates and overjoyed East Germans flowed over into West Berlin. [BBC]

in 1992, after the passing of her husband, Mrs Sears was encouraged by the Universal House of Justice to expand the four-day Desert Rose Bahá'í school to a permanent institute.

In 1996 Mrs Sears, with the help of many friends, purchased land near Eloy, Arizona for the development of the Desert Rose Bahá'í Institute, which she envisioned as an Institute for education in the arts and agriculture. When the land was purchased, the Round House was the only building on the property. A cottage was constructed for Mrs. Sears that provided both comfortable living space and room where she could work with partners on cataloguing and publishing some of Bill Sears' remaining works while building a library. The following year the Desert Rose Bahá'í Institute was incorporated with Not-for-Profit status.

Since that time a Meeting and Dining Hall was built and a Guest House was constructed near the Sears Cottage was built by David Hadden for use by him and his family. In 2018 this Guest House was converted into and Art Gallery. In 2001 a 16 rental apartment was built to help offset the operating costs. In 2004 the William Sears Pavilion was dedicated. It was designed as a place were people could go to reflect, pray, meditate, or celebrate. More accommodations were built in 2005 in the name of the Guffey Center, honouring two volunteers, Ray and Gloria Guffey.

In 2017 the DRBI was granted a licence to operate a low power (LP) radio station for Eloy Arizona to serve the community. Radio station KURE was licensed to operate on 106.1 FM as part of the Institute.

In 2019 DRBI Board member Dwight Cox initiated an agricultural project to grow organic produce. [DRBI website; Desert Rose Bahá'í Institute - History]

Their activities were:

1. The recital each day of one of the Obligatory Prayers with pure-hearted devotion.
2. The regular reading of the Sacred Scriptures, specifically at least each morning and evening, with reverence, attention and thought.
3. Prayerful meditation on the Teachings, so that we may understand them more deeply, fulfill them more faithfully, and convey them more accurately to others.
4. Striving every day to bring our behavior more into accordance with the high standards that are set forth in the Teachings.
5. Teaching the Cause of God.
6. Selfless service in the work of the Cause and in the carrying on of our trade or profession.

They also suggested that in their private meditation the believers use the repetition of the Greatest Name, Alláh-u-Abhá, ninety-five times a day which, although at that time it was not yet applied in the West, it was among the Laws, Ordinances and Exhortations of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.

Resolution 96 of the UN General Assembly, of December 11, 1946, titled "The Crime of Genocide," describes genocide as the "denial of the right of existence of entire human groups, as homicide is the denial of the right to live of individual human beings."

In an article in IranWire of 15 November 2023, author Faramaz Dakar asks, "Is the Islamic Republic Committing a Silent Genocide Against the Bahá'ís?".

Q. What groups are the victims of genocide? A. Victims of the crime of genocide fall into four specific groups: ethnic, national, religious and racial. This means that, for example, a political group cannot be considered a victim of genocide based on its legal definition. What is relevant in genocide is the annihilation of a group or a community as a unit and even as a whole.

Q. What specific actions constitute genocide? A. Behaviors that constitute the crime of genocide fall into five groups: (1) killing the members of the group; (2) inflicting physical harm that can gradually lead to the loss of life or impose permanent and extensive suffering on a person's life; (3) imposing conditions with the intent of annihilating the target group, such as starvation or cutting access to water, or depriving the members of the group of the means of survival such as seizing and confiscating their residences and businesses which ultimately makes it impossible for them to live that an environment; (4) creating conditions that prevent birth and childbearing or lead to the sterilization of people, and make the birth of a new generation of that religious, ethnic, racial or national group impossible; (5) the forced removal of the children of the target group.

Iran is a signatory to the Convention Against Genocide therefore the the Islamic Republic must be held accountable for the systematic persecution of the Baha'is. There is no sign that this government has ever had any intention of doing so and Iranian laws do not address the crime of genocide in any form. [IranWire 15 November 2023

Number of National Spiritual Assemblies: 148

Number of Local Spiritual Assemblies: 29,664

Indigenous tribes, races and ethnic groups represented in the Faith: 2,112 [from a pamphlet, The Bahá'í Faith and its World Community published by the NSA of Canada]

When establishing the electoral unit basis for the election of delegates, a National Spiritual Assembly should divide the territory under its jurisdiction into electoral units, based on the number of adult Bahá'ís in each area, in such a way that each unit will be responsible for electing preferably one delegate only.

Given the wide variety of geography in the Bahá'í world, each National Spiritual Assembly was directed to establish the most effective means for the election of the delegates to its National Convention and for providing for an opportunity for consultation among the electors.

"It is the hope of the Universal House of Justice that the implementation of [the electoral unit method of electing delegates to the National Convention] will promote Bahá'í solidarity, broaden the basis of representation at National Conventions and that thereby the work of the Faith in each country will be characterized by greater efficiency and enhanced harmony." [21 July 1985]

On January 2, the seven Baha'i prisoners were taken to the prosecutor's office for trial. The Sharia judge was Hojjatoleslam Fahim Kermani, and the charges against them were exactly the charges of the National Assembly members, such as spying for Israel. They did not accept any of the charges and the court did not provide any evidence. The trial was held in private and the defendants were denied the right to a lawyer. After several hours of trial, all seven were sentenced to death and the confiscation of their properties. Each of the defendants was summoned separately by the representative of the court and the verdicts were communicated to them. 'If you abandon the Bahá'í faith, you will be set free,' they were each told. The proposal was met with a negative response from all seven. An hour later, the court representative collectively offered the defendants a reduction in punishment if they condemned the actions of the Bahá'í National Assembly; again, all seven gave a negative response."

The men were shot at Evin Execution Square and the two women were shot in the basement of Evin Prison. The seven were buried in plain clothes, without any religious ceremonies, in Khavaran Cemetery. [Iran Press Watch 7 January 2022]

Among the many distinguished speakers were Dr. William Maxwell, a professor of education at the University of Texas and member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States; Varindra Vittachi, deputy executive director of UNICEF; Dorothy MacKinnon, past president, UNICEF-Canada; Jack E. Matthews, professor of education and director of international programs at Trent University; Louise LeBlanc, native medical health coordinator, Medical Services Branch, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory; and Dr. Victor de Araujo, chief representative of the Bahá’í International Community at the United Nations in New York City.

The Hasan Balyúzí Lecture was given by Dorothy Freeman, author of From Copper to Gold: The Life of Dorothy Baker, a biography of the Hand of the Cause of God who died in an airplane crash in January 1954.

Dr Abdu’l-Missagh Ghadirian gave a talk on Doukhobors and the Bahá’í Faith.

The meeting of the Association was preceded August 15-16 by the fourth International Conference on Health and Healing sponsored by the Bahá’í International Health Agency. [Baha'i News No 655 October 1985 p8-11]

The agency was established with a view to co-ordinating and encouraging research and education among Bahá'ís who are health professionals and others who are interested or who have knowledge in this area.

Goals of the agency include compiling a world directory of Bahá'ís who work in health-related professions, scientists and resources; organizing an international Bahá'í conference on health to be held every three years; publishing the proceedings of these conferences; and developing and distributing educational health programmes for children and adults in various countries and cultures. These programmes will be made available in written and audiovisual form for use by Bahá'í radio stations, Bahá'í schools, Spiritual Assemblies and non-Bahá'í' entities. [BW18:201; BW12p194; VV25]

For the history of the Warwick Leaflets see Bahaipedia.

The Baha'i cemetery, known as "Golestan-i-Javid" – the Eternal Garden – was confiscated. Ten years later, the City of Tehran demolished the cemetery in order to build the Khavaran Cultural Complex. In accordance with Shi'a jurisprudence, the conversion for the purpose of so-called "improvement" of a cemetery is only permissible after 30 years, but in this case only ten years had passed. The construction of the Khavaran Cultural Centre required deep excavation and the disinterment of more than 1,000 bodies. The design for the sunken yard and the vast basement of this complex was in reality a modern solution to the doctrinal problem of cleansing the soil of the "contamination" of the "unclean" remains of Bahá'ís. During the excavation and recycling of the soil, the remains of the "non-believer" Bahá'ís were apparently used in the foundation for the road and a new overpass. [Iran Press Watch 11 June 2018]

Egyptian security services have exploited the decree to orchestrate six major crackdowns on the Bahá'í community , in 1965, 1967, 1970, 1972,1985 and 2001. The authorities arrested a total of 236 Egyptian Bahá'ís in these crackdowns, on grounds that they had violated the decree or on charges of "contempt of religion" On the few occasions on which arrests were followed by prosecutions, none of the defendants were ever found guilty of violating Law 263/1960 or any other law." from "IV. Egypt's Baha'is and the Policy of Erasure" in Prohibited Identities: State Interference with Religious Freedom by Human Rights Watch.

 In a message to the Bahá'í world the Universal House of Justice called on individuals and Bahá'í communities to apply the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh systematically to the problems of their societies. This seminal statement pointed to the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh as a source of order in the world, asserted the coherence of the spiritual and the material dimensions of human life, praised the social and economic progress achieved by the Bahá'í community of Iran, announced the establishment of the Office of Social and Economic Development at the World Centre and defined the role of various Bahá'í agencies in fostering development. [Message from the Universal House of Justice dated 20 October, 1983, Mess63-86p602-603,AWH6–10; BW19:153, BW92-93pg229-245]

Raised in Babol he had studied medicine in Tehran, completed his military service then left for England to study English and then Canada. After completing his studies in which he trained as an otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat specialist), he returned to Iran. His Canadian fiancee, Anita, followed and they were married in 1971. She and their three children, all under the age of seven, left Iran after the Revolution on the advice of the Canadian Embassy.

He was 48 years old at the time of his execution and was considered one of the top microscopic ear surgeons in the world. He was an innovator who devised a new method of ear surgery for the treatment of deafness. The method, now used in a modernized form around the world, allows a surgeon to implant a small hearing aid behind the ear of a hearing impaired person in a way that cannot been seen. [Iran Wire]

Reprints of the articles in pdf format can be found on the Hurqalya Publications: Center for Shaykhī and Bābī-Bahā’ī Studies website.

An incomplete index of the publications up to October 1992 can be found at Bahá'í Library Online.

The Hojjatiyeh movement initially presented itself as a conservative Islamic group that aimed to combat the spread of the Bahá'í Faith and defend the principles of Twelver Shia Islam. It considered the Bahá'í teachings to be a heretical deviation from Islam and saw Bahá'ís as apostates. The movement was critical of the Shah's regime and initially aligned itself with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the Iranian Revolution in 1979. After the revolution, the Hojjatiyeh movement's activities and ideology began to be viewed with suspicion. Its radical and confrontational approach towards other religious minorities and even other Shia Muslims drew criticism from other clerics and political factions within the new government. In response to mounting pressure and criticism, Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the dissolution of the Hojjatiyeh society in 1983, effectively banning the organization. The movement's radical and divisive teachings were seen as a threat to the stability and unity of the newly established Islamic Republic. [Wikipedia; Hojjatiyeh, Mesbahiyeh, and Ahmadinejad by M Sashimi]