Iran's denial of access to university education for Bahá'ís "[i]ntellectual cleansing of their ethnic brothers by the clergy-dominated regime."[93]

In an effort which the New York Times called "an elaborate act of communal self-preservation,"[90] the Bahá'í community in 1987 established its own program of higher education to meet the educational needs of its young people, which evolved to become known as the Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE), whose classes were held in private homes and had an enrollment of approximately 900 students.[2][32] In 1998 (29 September - 2 October), Iranian authorities broke up the underground institution invading more than 500 homes of Bahá'í and office buildings in at least 14 cities around Iran.[91] Hundreds were arrested. In addition to books and computer equipment confiscated,[1][32] personal possessions such asThe most recent death of a Bahá’í in the custody of the Iranian government occurred on Dec, 15, 2005, in the city of Yazd. Zabihullah Mahrami had been sentenced to death in 1995, but in 1999 this was commuted to life in prison.[86] His arrest was for the crime of apostasy against Islam, but he was convicted of spying for Israel. He was approximately 59 years old.[86] He died in his prison cell of unknown causes. The United States condemned the imprisonment and alleged persecution of Zabihullah Mahrami, and State Department Deputy Spokesman, Adam Ereli, said that Mr. Mahrami had received death threats in prison and been forced to perform arduous physical labour.[86]

Deaths

The Anti-Defamation League has stated that the government's effort to identify and monitor Bahá'ís is similar