Dear Baha'i friends,
Since writing to you on 15 June on behalf of the Universal House of Justice about events and persecutions in Iran, several developments have transpired, and we have been asked to share the information set forth below with you.
The cumulative effect of the cables sent by Local Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world, as well as the issuance and quiet circulation of open letters directed to the public in Iran by the National Spiritual Assembly of that country, refuting the false allegations made against the Baha'i Community, seem to have produced, among others, the following results:
- The Iranian press has stopped its daily vituperation against the Baha'is.
- The official government explanation for the seizure of properties belonging to the Baha'i Community, including the Holy Places, is that these have been seized in order to protect them.
- Individual government officials, contacted by representatives of the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran, have expressed personal sympathy with the Baha'is; however, they seem incapable of effectively helping the friends in their present plight. ...
Department of the Secretariat
(‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986’)
