Escalating pressure on the Bahaʼi community in Isfahan: Threats, intimidation, and extortion by IRGC Intelligence

Hengaw– Thursday, August 21, 2025

Intelligence agents of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have raided the homes and workplaces of ten Bahaʼi adherents in Isfahan, subjecting them to threats and intimidation while confiscating their personal belongings and valuables.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, the homes and businesses of Bahaʼi residents Navid Mogharebin, Saeed Mogharebin, Manouchehr Rezaei, Sepehr and Shahab Torabi, and Babak Babakan, as well as the homes of Behnam Janmiyan, Peyman Makhmoor, Kourosh Sadeghi, and Omid Firouzmandi, were searched by IRGC intelligence forces.

A source familiar with the incident told Hengaw that seven business units belonging to seven of the Baháʼí adherents were searched first, followed by raids on their homes. Shortly afterward, the homes of three other Bahaʼi residents—who had no connection to the initial group other than being their neighbors—were also searched.

During these raids, IRGC intelligence agents confiscated mobile phones, laptops, tablets, books, photographs, as well as gold and coins belonging to the families.

The operations were carried out without any legal warrant, with agents claiming to act on a so-called “verbal order.” In one case, they broke down the entrance door of a residence, and in another, a young man present in the home was beaten.