Viva Spring!

Shariatmadari Compares Use of Slogan by Ahmadinejad to Rise of Bahais in Iran 

In his speeches, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has increasingly been using the slogan, Viva Spring! (“Zend-e Bad Bahar!”). Today, Hossein Shariatmadari, the influential editor-in-chief of the Tehran’s conservative daily Kayhan, in a hard-hitting editorial published by the news site Mashreq, questions the use of the slogan and suggests that Ahmadinejad and his political circle are following the footsteps of the Bahais, a religion founded and later persecuted in Iran.

“Now one needs to ask, Why should they (Ahmadinejad, et al.) use the phrase ‘Viva Spring!’ instead of using the holy name of Lord of Time (Imam Mahdi)?  It should be noted that the founder of that decadent Zionist sect (the Bahais) first started using the slogan ‘Baab’ (Gate) and claimed relation with Lord of Time and at the end claimed he himself was the Lord of Time,” wrote Shariatmadari. (Mashreqnews, 11 March)

To read Shariatmadari’s editorial (in Farsi), please click here.

File photo: Hossein Shariatmadari (Kayhan)

Iran Reinstates 20-Year Sentence against Baha’i Leaders

The Iranian authorities reimposed 20-year jail terms on seven leaders of Baha’i faith in the country after an appeal court had cut their sentences to ten years. Amnesty International called the move “outrageous.”

"Yet again, the Iranian authorities are manipulating their own justice system to persecute members of a religious minority,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa. “Instead of doubling their sentences, the authorities should be setting the Baha’i leaders free, right now, and guaranteeing their freedom to practice their religion free from threat or persecution," he added.

“Such arbitrary and vindictive acts are a salutary reminder of why the UN Human Rights Council voted recently to create a Special Rapporteur on Iran. The Council’s decision came not a moment too soon,” Amnesty spokesman said.