Amid the heightened persecution of members of the Baha’i faith by the Islamic Republic, 14 Baha'i citizens were arrested in Qaemshahr in the northern Mazandaran province Wednesday.

According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), security forces stormed a small gathering at the home of one of the Baha’i families in the city and detained them. 

Late in August, UN experts and Amnesty International expressed deep concern over Iran’s persecution of Baha’is and urged an end to pressure on religious and other minorities.

The Shia clergy consider the Baha’i faith as a heretical sect. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has on several occasions called the Baha'i faith a cult and in a religious fatwa in 2018 forbade contact, including business dealings, with followers of the faith.

Bahai’s, who number around 300,000 in Iran, cannot hold jobs in the public sector and are sometimes sacked from their jobs in the private sector under pressure from authorities. They are also deprived of higher education.

Informed sources told Iran International earlier in August that at least 90 Baha'i students have been barred from universities this year due to a secret government policy.

In early August, security forces laid siege to Roshankouh, a village in Mazandaran province, and started demolishing houses and farms belonging to members of the persecuted Baha’i faith.

Several countries including Canada, the United States, and Britain have expressed concern over the Islamic Republic’s systematic prosecution, harassment, and discrimination against the Baha'i minority.