§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from members of the Baha'i community regarding the persecution of their communities in Iran.
Mr. Douglas-HoggThe Secretary-General of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United Kingdom informed us in October of the confiscation of the homes and property of Baha'is in Iran. Numerous local Baha'i assemblies subsequently made similar representations, and we were able to inform them of the strong representations which we, together with our EC partners, have in turn made to the Iranian authorities on this matter.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government plans to make to the Iranian Government regarding the persecution of the Baha'i communities in Iran.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe EC presidency made representations in May to the Iranian permanent representative in Geneva about the execution of Mr. Bahman Samandari. In October we made further representations on behalf of all EC member states to the Iranian authorities in both Geneva and Tehran over the death sentences passed on Mr. Kayvan Khalajabadi and Mr. Bihnam Mithaqi. The representations in Tehran also expressed our concern at the reports of the confiscation of homes and property of Baha'is in Iran. Together with EC partners, we have co-sponsored a resolution due to be adopted by the United Nations General Assembly this month on human rights in Iran, which expressed concern at the treatment of the Baha'i community.