The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, however, has reported an intensified persecution of Baha'is in recent years, including cemetery desecration, arbitrary detention, home raids, property confiscation, work expulsion and denial of basic civil rights.
The case of the seven Baha'is has drawn global attention. Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist freed from Evin prison earlier this year, spoke on their behalf, as have Human Rights Watch and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
"We continue to call on the White House and State Department to condemn the imprisonment of the seven innocent Baha'is and demand their immediate and unconditional release," said Leonard Leo, chairman of USCIRF, which is an independent bipartisan federal commission.
