Two more followers of the Baha'i religion have been sentenced to death in Iran. Sirus ZabihiMoghaddam and HedayatKashefi Najafabadi were imprisoned in October 1987 for holding Baha'i family development meetings. Another follower of the religion, Mr Ruhollah Rohani, was executed last July.
Mr Brendan McNamara, chairman of the national spiritual assembly of the Baha'is of Ireland, described it as an extraordinary situation where "while on the one hand the Iranian government are trying to show the world how liberal they have become by changing their position on Salman Rushdie, they are, at the same time, intensifying their persecution of defenceless members of the Baha'i community in Iran."
He said that Iran initially denied Mr Rohani had been executed but then admitted it, saying it was not because of his religion but for actions against the security of the country.
"The rationale was that the nature of the case made it impossible for details to be revealed," he said.
