Dear Baha'i friends,
The Universal House of Justice has asked us to send you the attached material. ...
With loving Baha'i greetings,
Department of the Secretariat
IRANIAN GOVERNMENT AGENCIES OUTSIDE IRAN HAVE APPARENTLY ADOPTED A UNIFORM STAND IN THEIR REPLIES TO APPEALS BEING MADE ON BEHALF OF THE IRANIAN BAHA'IS. THEY SAY THAT BAHA'IS IN IRAN, UNLIKE BAHA'IS ELSEWHERE, HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN POLITICS, CONSPIRED WITH AND WERE FAVOURED AND SUPPORTED BY THE PREVIOUS REGIME, AND WERE PROMINENT MEMBERS OF SAVAK.[1] IN SUPPORT OF THESE STATEMENTS THESE OFFICIALS NAME AS BAHA'IS: FORMER PRIME MINISTER ABBAS AMIR HOVEIDA, A FORMER MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE MANSOUR ROUHANI, A SAVAK SENIOR OFFICER PARVIZ SABETI, AND THE PHYSICIAN TO THE SHAH DR AYADI
THE FACTS ARE THAT HOVEIDA'S GRANDFATHER WAS A BAHA'I, HIS FATHER WAS EXPELLED FROM THE BAHA'I COMMUNITY BECAUSE HE BECAME INVOLVED IN POLITICAL ACTIVITY, AND HOVEIDA HIMSELF WAS NEVER A BAHA'I. ROUHANI'S FATHER WAS A BAHA'I, HIS MOTHER A DEVOUT MUSLIM, BUT ROUHANI WAS NEVER A BAHA'I. SABETI'S PARENTS WERE BAHA'IS, AND THEY REGISTERED HIM IN THE COMMUNITY AS A BAHA'I CHILD. HOWEVER, WHEN HE CAME OF AGE HE DID NOT HIMSELF REGISTER AS A BAHA'I AND NEVER BECAME A MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY. UNLIKE CHILDREN OF OTHER RELIGIONS, BAHA'I CHILDREN DO NOT AUTOMATICALLY INHERIT THE FAITH OF THEIR PARENTS. WHEN THEY COME OF AGE THEY MUST OF THEIR OWN VOLITION EXPRESS THEIR BELIEF IN BAHA'U'LLAH AND HIS TEACHINGS. DR AYADI, HOWEVER, IS A BAHA'I. HE HELD TWO POSITIONS: ONE AS DIRECTOR OF THE ARMY MEDICAL SERVICE; THE OTHER AS PRIVATE PHYSICIAN OF THE COURT. NEITHER OF THESE TWO POSITIONS WAS REGARDED BY THE BAHA'I COMMUNITY AS POLITICAL IN NATURE.
