US Report: Iran is continuing its misinformation campaign against minority faith groups

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) attests in its new report published this month that Iran’s Ja’afri Shi’a Islamic regime is continuing a misinformation campaign of propaganda against religious minorities it began last year. Neither Non-Muslim citizens nor adherents of other Islamic traditions are afforded equal protection under the law in Iran, the USCIRF reports attest.

In its report, the USCIRF says the Iranian government is carrying on its misinformation campaign as part of an overall effort to suppress religious freedom in the country. “While the specific false accusations against each minority group are distinct, there are overarching themes in the government’s propaganda campaign against all,” the report says.

According to the USCIRF, Tehran cannot directly attack minority religious beliefs because religious freedom is protected under Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a treaty that Iran ratified in 1975 before the current extremist regime took power. Therefore, the USCIRF says, the regime presents minority faiths as a national security threat.

“A common thread in the content published on religious minorities is their alleged ties to foreign states and their nefarious activities aimed at sowing discord and division within Iranian society,” the report says. “It is noteworthy that religious minority groups typically are not attacked for their religious beliefs per se. Instead, they are targeted on the pretext of posing threats to Iran’s sovereignty and security.”

“The propaganda directed against religious minorities in Iran is one part of a two-pronged assault on religious freedom in the country,” the report continues. “While the state security apparatus and the judiciary arrest and prosecute religious minorities on baseless national security charges, the propaganda effort attempts to justify the measures taken against religious minorities by providing false narratives regarding their alleged nefarious activities and links to foreign governments and entities.”

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