Written question asked by Emily Thornberry (Labour) on Tuesday, 11 December 2018, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 13 December 2018. It was answered by Alistair Burt (Conservative) on Wednesday, 19 December 2018 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Iran: Baha'i Faith

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Iranian counterpart on the jailing of (a) Farajollah Bangaleh and (b) Mitra Badrnejad for practicing their Ba’hai faith; and whether he raised the Iranian authority's treatment of the Ba’hai people on his recent trip to Tehran.

Answer: We are particularly concerned by the continuing systematic discrimination, harassment and targeting of the Baha’i community. The British government supports the UN Special Rapporteur’s assessment that discrimination against the Baha’i community in Iran is legally sanctioned by a lack of constitutional recognition and the absence of other legal protections for adherents of this faith. Though we have not raised specifically the cases of Farajollah Bangaleh and Mitra Badrnejad, we have repeatedly expressed concern at the ongoing incarceration, and the shocking sentencing of Baha'i leaders and the wider community in Iran with the Iranian authorities.

Secondary information