US slams Iran on treatment of religious minorities

The Hill - The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Wednesday criticized Iran for its increasingly poor treatment of its religious minorities.
“Since assuming office in 2013, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has not delivered on his promises to improve conditions for religious minority communities,” USCIRF Chair Katrina Lantos Swett said in a statement.
 “In fact, the Iranian government has imprisoned more than 350 people, including 150 Sunni Muslims, 100 Baha’is, 90 Christians and at least a dozen Sufi Muslims, for their beliefs.”
USCIRF’s scathing remarks hit Tehran prior to its appearance Thursday before theUnited Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Iran will announce which, if any, of the UNHRC’s recommendations it will follow for improving its human rights.
The UN has offered 291 recommendations – 26 of which concern religious freedom – to Iran on its human rights this year. USCIRF said Wednesday that Iran has rarely implemented any of these proposals in the past.
“The number of Christians imprisoned has nearly doubled over the past year,” Swett said of Iran’s recent actions regarding freedom of faith. “The United States and international community should call for the release of all prisoners of conscience in Iran, including: Saeed Abedini, a Christian pastor and U.S. citizen; Ayatollah Mohammed Kazemeini Boroujerdi, a Shi’a Muslim cleric; and Mahvash Sabet, a Baha’I leader held since 2008.”
“These brave people, among many others, are suffering solely for exercising their fundamental right to freedom of conscience or belief,” Swett added.
A report released Feb. 20 by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also found that Iran’s religious minorities “continue to face persecution there.” Tehran is a hard-line Shia Islamic theocracy under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader.
Tehran is already facing scrutiny over its quest for nuclear arms. Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Lausanne, Switzerland on Monday in an attempt to negotiate a deal with Iran over its nuclear production capabilities.