The position of Baha'is in Iran before and after the Iranian Islamic Revolution
By: Dr. Shahriar Jahanian According to the Constitution of Iran, which was approved in January 1906 The Baha'i religion was not considered one of the country's official religions. However, the late Shah of Iran (Mohamad Reza Pahlavi) was trying to maintain a good relationship with everyone. At the time, he felt with the emergence of Islam, he could fight communism, so he tried to keep the Muslim clergy at his side. The church was against Bahai's. So, Shah had to take both sides somehow or be in the middle. So, he would give the excellent position as much as possible to Bahai’s for example, Dr. Aiadi, his Physician, was Bahai, but he never made Bahai official religion. But being a Bahai or having a national or local spiritual Bahai assembly was not forbidden or considered a crime. After the revolution being a Bahai was a crime, or even forming a Bahai Spiritual body was considered a crime with death penalty punishment. The Islamic republic's goal now is to destroy th...