NICOSIA, Oct 19, (AFP): Iran’s Revolutionary Court has given seven Bahais accused of proselytism jail sentences of between four and five years, according to a statement received Wednesday from the Bahai community in the United States.

The six men and one woman went on trial in late September before the court, which deals with crimes against Iran’s Islamic regime, after being held in custody for four months, the statement said.
They are part of a group of leaders or teachers of BIHE (Bahai Institute for Higher Education), an online university, the statement said, adding that the authorities announced their arrest in May for “proselytising.” Fourteen others arrested at the same time were released.

Iranian media gave no news of the trial or verdict.

The defence lawyers for the seven, Abdolfattah Soltani, was arrested Sept 10, spurring condemnation by Amnesty International and the European Union.
The Bahais, who are barred from higher education and government posts in staunchly Shiite Muslim Iran, are regarded as infidels by the majority community and have been persecuted both before and after the country’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iranian Bahais are regularly prosecuted and seven community leaders were sentenced to 20 years in prison in late 2010.

The European Union and the United States have expressed repeatedly their concern about the plight of Bahais.

The Bahais consider Bahaullah, born in 1817, to be the latest prophet sent by God and believe in the spiritual unity of all religions and all mankind.

Their faith is banned in Iran, where they are regarded as heretics and “spies” linked to Israel, as their global headquarters is in the Israeli city of Haifa.
There are more than seven million Bahais worldwide, including 300,000 in Iran, where the religion was founded, community leaders say.