Somewhere, in an Iranian prison, 57-year-old Baha’i leader Behrouz Tavakkoli is being held captive.
Half a world away, in Edmonds, he has family worried about him.
The pain of not knowing exactly where Tavakkoli is, how his diabetes is doing, or knowing anything at all is hard to describe, said Payam Nashery, 43, a longtime Boeing engineer who lives near Edmonds Community College.
“The personal impact of this persecution is hard to describe,” said Nashery, who is a member of the Baha’i Spiritual Assembly of Edmonds, the administrative body for local Baha’i. “It is not something you can get used to. You can only hope to cope with it.”
Nashery’s younger sister, Neda, married Naim Tavakkoli, Behrouz’s son. Nashery has never met Behrouz, but is close with Naim.
Behrouz Tavakkoli is one of six leaders of the Iranian Baha’i faith who were arrested during early morning raids in May by Iranian authorities. A seventh leader has been detained since March.
The U.S. Department of State has strongly condemned the arrests, calling them a “clear violation of the Iranian regime’s international commitments and obligations to respect international religious freedom norms.”
Since the May arrests, Iranian officials have refused to confirm where Tavakkoli is, or to let his family members speak to him.
Amnesty International believes the leaders are being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison.
The Iranian government hasn’t given a reason for their detention, but Amnesty’s Web site says the seven “may all be prisoners of conscience, detained solely because of their religious beliefs or their peaceful activities on behalf of the Baha’i community.”
For Nashery, that is obvious.
Since leaving his parents and his home in Tehran in 1980 to study English in India, Nashery has not been able to return home.
His father used to work for the Civil Aviation of Iran, but he lost his job because of his faith, Nashery said.
“It has been very difficult,” Nashery said. “When people are arrested for no cause, when they lose their job for no reason, only for their faith, that is difficult.”
Nashery and the rest of Edmonds’ roughly 30-member Baha’i community have been lobbying United States Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, as well as additional congressional representatives, to put pressure on Iran.
Rep. Dave Reichert has already condemned the arrests.
Nashery hopes to continue raising awareness.
The family needs support, he said.
Flipping through photographs of his family, Nashery pauses over a photograph of his sister with her husband.
“This is the person who is most affected,” Nashery said, pointing to Naim. “This is the person who does not know if his father is coming home or not.”
Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com
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