NEW YORK (Press Release) –An edict by the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khameni, urged all Iranians to avoid dealings with the Baha’i sect and called them “deviant and misleading.”
“Such actions and statements are a warning for potential danger,” said Robert G. Sugarman, Chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
They “called on the international community to intercede on behalf of the Baha’i community in Iran, which has been subjected to constant discrimination and even physical violence. Recent statements are a warning of a potential escalation of danger for this community of nearly 300,000. The statement must be seen as an alert to all those concerned with human rights to speak out to prevent further tragedy. Warnings such as the Supreme Leader’s, have often led to violence against a particular community, especially when it is rooted in such an extreme ideology,” said Sugarman and Hoenlein.
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Preceding provided by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations