The situation in Persia is growing more dangerous, more
confused and perplexing every day. Baha’i literature is banned, confiscated and
burned. Baha’i marriage certificates are denied recognition by the civil
authorities and the status of those who are married among the believers is fraught
with incalculable difficulties and dangers. The printing of Baha’i newsletters,
magazines and calendars is tacitly forbidden and constantly interfered with.
Intolerable restrictions are being increasingly imposed on Baha’i gatherings,
celebrations, teaching activities, and inter-assembly communications. With the
passing of Keith, that indefatigable, brilliant and wholly consecrated
international champion of the Cause, the Persian believers may be entering upon
a period of systematic persecution reminiscent of the sufferings of a by-gone
day. I urge your Assembly to obtain the fullest and up-to-date information from
the Tihran Assembly and to exert the utmost pressure on the Persian Minister at
Washington.
- Shoghi Effendi (Message
to the NSA of the United States and Canada, 8 November 1933; Baha’i News, no.
80, January 1934)
