For over 150 years, the Baha’is have been oppressed in Iran. Waves of systematic persecution at the hands of the government and clergy has sought to expel, intimidate, and eliminate those who would believe in Baha’u'llah.

It has taken various forms: harassment of school children, dismissal from jobs, revoked pensions, denial of university education, imprisonment for administrative activity or teaching children’s classes, burning of homes, destruction of holy sites, demolition of grave sites, torture and death. This is all because the Baha’is believe another Messenger from God has come again after Muhammad.

The response of the Baha’is, however, has been noted by increasing numbers both within and outside Iran, for what could be a characteristically unique phenomenon in contemporary history. The Universal House of Justice recently wrote to the believers in Iran: