AP — Peyvand Naimi has spent more than six months in an Iranian prison, accused of killing state security agents during nationwide protests, although his family says no formal charges or evidence have been presented. “The Baha’is will not be released,” the family says it was told by the prosecutor.

Ever since the Baha’i faith was founded in Persia — now Iran — in the 19th century, its followers there have been persecuted, usually more harshly during times of crisis.

This year, amid massive anti-government protests and war with the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic has mounted a fierce crackdown on the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, human rights groups say.

Since January, dozens of Baha’is have been imprisoned because of their faith, human rights groups say. Holy books and religious symbols have been desecrated during raids of Baha’i family homes — which these groups say is evidence of authorities’ sectarian motivations. Those detained have faced mistreatment ranging from electric shocks to mock hangings, and some have made forced confessions to crimes punishable by death, rights groups say.

The Islamic Republic’s intensified campaign against Baha’is is part of a wider crackdown across Iran. Nationwide protests that began in late December prompted the deadliest backlash by Iranian security forces since the Islamic Republic took power in 1979, with thousands killed and tens of thousands reportedly arrested.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry and its spokesperson at the United Nations didn’t respond to multiple requests to discuss the treatment of Baha’is.

The targeting of Baha’is, who make up less than 1 percent of Iran’s population, is hardly discreet: The authoritarian government often uses state TV and social media to accuse followers of being spies and blame them for the country’s economic woes.

“Every time there is a crisis — social, economic or political — shift the blame to the Baha’is,” said Simin Fahandej, who represents the international community of Baha’is at the United Nations. “And this [year’s] protest and the war have also been no different.”

While Baha’is often practice their religion in secret, the Iranian public is encouraged to report on neighbors if they are known or suspected followers of the faith, which is considered immoral by the country’s ruling clerics.

“Much of this portrayal stems from theological hostility,” said Omid Ghaemmaghami, an associate professor of Middle East Studies at the State University of New York at Binghamton. He and other experts said the scapegoating of Baha’is also serves to instill fear and obedience among........

© The Times of Israel