Few religions have known such vicious persecution in the land of their birth. The Baha'is, for the past 30 years, have suffered systematic discrimination and harassment by the Iranian authorities. Their leaders have been arrested and tortured, their homes raided, their teachings forbidden and their communities shunned as pariahs.

Since the Khomeini revolution in 1979 Iran's 300,000 Baha'is have been denounced as apostates and infidels, enjoying none of the Koranic protections afforded to Christians and Jews. The intimidation has recently intensified pace. Three years ago seven Baha'i leaders were arrested, accused of spying for Israel, spreading corruption and acting against the State. Eventually all the charges were quashed except that of tending to the spiritual and social needs of their community — a charge that proves, senior Baha'is insist, that what lies at the heart of the persecution is the hatred by Islamist extremists of the Baha'i faith itself.

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