the religion was invented and implanted by colonialist powers to subvert Islam and to subjugate the Muslim peoples of Iran. They use fake historical documents such as the memoirs of Prince Dolgorouki, a mid-nineteenth century Russian minister in Tehran, to substantiate their claims; the memoirs were however manufactured in Iran in 1937 and have long since been exposed as forgeries.[96]

In the later months of 2005, an intensive anti-Bahá'í campaign was conducted by Iranian newspapers and radio stations. The state-run and influential Kayhan[94] newspaper, whose managing editor is appointed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei,[95] ran nearly three dozen articles defaming the Bahá'í Faith.[10][37] The articles, which make use of fake historical documents, engage in a distortion of history to falsely describe Bahá'í moral principles in a manner thatwould be offensive to Muslims, thus inducing feelings of suspicion, distrust and hatred for members of the Bahá'í community in Iran.[10][96]

Media attacks

In April 2004, Iranian authorities demolished the shrine and grave site of Mullá Muḥammad ‘Alí-i-Bárfurúshi (Quddús), a Bábí leader.[2] The following June, the Tehran house of Mírzá `Abbás-i-Núrí (aka Mírzá Buzurg), Bahá'u'lláh's father, was destroyed. The previous such incident occurred in 1993 when a Bahá'í cemetery in Tehran was bulldozed in order to build a municipal centre.[1]

In 1979, soon after their revolution, Iranian authorities ordered and encompassed the demolition of the House of the Báb in Shiraz. A mosque was later built on the site.

House of the Báb, Shiraz, Iran, before being demolished and replaced with an Islamic religious center

Destruction of holy sites

Iranian columnist Iqbal Latif calls