Inciting Hatred: Iran's media campaign to demonize Baha'is A special report of the Baha'i International Community, October 2011

In the case of Iran’s Bahá’ís, slanders and falsehoods are disseminated in state-controlled and statesanctioned media, through pamphlets and tracts, from pulpits, and at public exhibitions and events. 2 Inciting Hatred — Iran’s media campaign to demonize Bahá’ís Bahá’ís are obsessively portrayed in official propaganda as the source of every conceivable evil. They are accused of being agents for various imperialist or colonialist factions; they face continuous but utterly unfounded allegations of immorality; they are branded as social pariahs to be shunned. The propaganda is shocking in its volume and vehemence, its scope and sophistication, cynically calculated to stir up antagonism against a peaceful religious community whose members are striving to contribute to the well-being of their society. After 30 years of hate propaganda, it seems that the Bahá’ís have become an all-purpose scapegoat, so much so that the Iranian government now feels it can effectively smear its opponents merely by accusing them of being Bahá’ís, as if that were the most heinous crime. The Bahá’í International Community has surveyed the continual stream of such propaganda disseminated online and through the Iranian press and broadcast media, over a period of some 16 months—from 17 December 2009 to 16 May 2011