“Thousands of political prisoners are being held in Iran, amid a wave of executions. One of the latest is Shahin Negari, an Iranian microbiologist who studied at University of Ottawa. His arrest was part of an ongoing crackdown on members of the Baha’i faith, who have been severely persecuted since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Last month the Iranian authorities arrested 16 Baha’is in an attempt to shut down the online Baha’i Institute of Higher Education, which grants degrees to members who are otherwise barred from studying at Iranian universities. “We don’t know what the charges against them are,” said Shahram Negari, Shahin’s brother, who now lives in Toronto. “They are all being held in Evin prison, but they have only been allowed one phone call each.””