The 16 Baha'is initially detained after Iranian authorities raided some 39 homes associated with staff and faculty of the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education, in May 2011.

Since 1979, the government of Iran has systematically sought to deprive young members of the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority – the 300,000-strong Baha’i community – from higher education. Thousands of other students have also been barred from universities for being active in student unions, campus publications, or social and political issues including women’s rights, academic freedom, human rights and the rights of prisoners.

Authorities have also sought to close down Baha’i efforts to establish their own educational initiatives, including the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education. Such acts on the part of the Iranian government are, without doubt, part of a coordinated effort to eradicate the Baha’i community as a viable group within Iranian society.

This special section includes articles and background information concerning Iran’s campaign to deny higher education to Baha’is and in particular, its recent efforts to shut down the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education. Baha’I World News Service articles are listed below. A digest of recent developments is available under Current Summary.