Mr. President,

Every year, millions of young people look forward to entering university. They yearn to learn, dream of graduation day, imagine the careers they will pursue and the lives they will build.

For the Baháʼís in Iran, that dream will stay only a dream, one taken from them in 1979 when the Iranian government banned them outright from universities. Shamelessly, this policy of exclusion was codified through state directives and sent to universities around the country to be enforced.

And now, almost five decades later, three successive generations of Baháʼís have been banned from pursuing their dreams, their talents, their professions.

The question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” carries a painful weight for a Baháʼí child in Iran, where access to education and employment is weaponized as instruments of oppression.

Today, Baháʼí youth, who are among Iran’s brightest minds and talents, lie in prison instead of sitting in classrooms. Borna Naimi, Shakila Ghasemi, Peyvand Naimi, Parsa Najafi, Noyan Hejazi, Yeganeh Roohbakhsh, and many others are young Baháʼís who have been tortured and imprisoned, some facing mock executions, for one reason only: their faith. Not only is Iran depriving them of their rights, it is robbing the country itself of the talents and contributions of its young people.

Special Rapporteur,

We urge you to call on Iran to immediately and unconditionally end the exclusion of Baháʼís from universities, release the youth in prison, and ensure equal access to education for all.