00:00:09.876 --> 00:00:15.959
(dramatic music)

00:00:28.042 --> 00:00:36.292


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(soft piano music)

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(dramatic music)

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[piano notes]

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(dramatic music)

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[piano notes]

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[soft piano music]

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(dramatic music)

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[vocalization]

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[typewriter]

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[news reporter #1] The end of
Iran's monarchy came early today

00:02:33.375 --> 00:02:36.476
when Khomeini's followers
took control of the palace

00:02:36.500 --> 00:02:36.935
of the Shah.

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[news reporter #2]
Ruhollah Mousavi Khomeini,

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the Ayatollah becomes the bearer

00:02:41.250 --> 00:02:44.518
of hope for all those
who are against the Shah.

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In the end, the Shah
is defeated.

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The Ayatollah is
victorious and with him,

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Islamic fundamentalism.

00:02:51.709 --> 00:02:53.852
[news reporter #3]
Iranians continue to vote today

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on the new Islamic constitution.

00:02:57.918 --> 00:02:59.476
[news reporter #4]
As the international community

00:02:59.500 --> 00:03:02.185
begins to re-engage with Iran

00:03:02.209 --> 00:03:05.435
and trade and diplomatic
links are re ignited,

00:03:05.459 --> 00:03:09.602
Iran citizens are hoping
for a new era of prosperity.

00:03:09.626 --> 00:03:13.768
Among them are Iran's
350,000 Baha'is

00:03:13.792 --> 00:03:15.976
persecuted by the current regime

00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:19.852
throughout their history,
living as second-class citizens

00:03:19.876 --> 00:03:20.518
in their homeland.

00:03:20.542 --> 00:03:21.852
[news reporter #5]
One of the world's newest

00:03:21.876 --> 00:03:22.810
and fastest
growing religions,

00:03:22.834 --> 00:03:25.852
however, many people still have
never heard of Baha'i religion.

00:03:25.876 --> 00:03:28.602
Millions of people around the
world have converted to it

00:03:28.626 --> 00:03:31.310
because of its message
of unity and community.

00:03:31.334 --> 00:03:32.268
[news reporter #6]
The Baha'i religion

00:03:32.292 --> 00:03:36.685
was founded in 1844 in Persia,
which is present-day Iran.

00:03:36.709 --> 00:03:40.268
Followers believe in the
oneness of all world religions,

00:03:40.292 --> 00:03:44.018
and since its founding, it's
spread to nearly every corner

00:03:44.042 --> 00:03:44.518
of the planet.

00:03:44.542 --> 00:03:46.727
[news reporter #7]
Baha'u'llah's revelations

00:03:46.751 --> 00:03:47.518
resulted in a lifetime of

00:03:47.542 --> 00:03:52.018
persecution and imprisonment by
Persian and Ottoman authorities.

00:03:52.042 --> 00:03:57.292
[news reporter #8]
(speaking foreign language)

00:04:02.459 --> 00:04:05.143
- Among the leaders, we had
a good number of them.

00:04:05.167 --> 00:04:09.894
We had agents of
America, Israel.

00:04:09.918 --> 00:04:11.143
[interviewer]
And they were executed?

00:04:11.167 --> 00:04:14.143
- Oh yes. We had a Muslim also.

00:04:14.167 --> 00:04:16.667
People who are Baha'i
are executed.

00:04:19.125 --> 00:04:25.310
[soft piano music]

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[piano music continues]

00:05:09.542 --> 00:05:14.167
[typewriter]

00:05:16.209 --> 00:05:21.602
[film projector]

00:05:21.626 --> 00:05:25.768
- Our next speaker will
speak about Baha'is and their,

00:05:25.792 --> 00:05:30.518
the challenges they have in
seeking an education

00:05:30.542 --> 00:05:31.268
or getting jobs,

00:05:31.292 --> 00:05:36.101
living a normal life once
they reach a certain age

00:05:36.125 --> 00:05:38.351
to enter certain vocations.

00:05:38.375 --> 00:05:42.727
I want to introduce to you this
beautiful woman who is sitting

00:05:42.751 --> 00:05:47.059
to my left, Niknaz Aftehi,
who was a former student at the

00:05:47.083 --> 00:05:49.518
Baha'i Institute for
Higher Education,

00:05:49.542 --> 00:05:50.894
where she studied architecture.

00:05:50.918 --> 00:05:53.185
She currently lives in
California and received an

00:05:53.209 --> 00:05:55.768
advanced degree in
architecture at UC Berkeley.

00:05:55.792 --> 00:05:58.351
And given her excellent
results and performance there,

00:05:58.375 --> 00:06:03.018
UC Berkeley has now opened its
doors to other students coming

00:06:03.042 --> 00:06:05.500
from the Baha'i Institute.

00:06:06.542 --> 00:06:08.393
Growing in a Baha'i
family in Iran

00:06:08.417 --> 00:06:09.351
as a child and teenager,

00:06:09.375 --> 00:06:12.602
you are always worried that when
the time comes for your higher

00:06:12.626 --> 00:06:16.768
education, if the university
and Iran's colleges

00:06:16.792 --> 00:06:18.226
are open to you or not.

00:06:18.250 --> 00:06:22.976
The time came and doors to
all universities in Iran

00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:24.602
were closed to me.

00:06:24.626 --> 00:06:26.226
I studied at the BIHE,

00:06:26.250 --> 00:06:28.351
the Baha'i Institute
for Higher Education,

00:06:28.375 --> 00:06:31.894
which is an informal institute
set up by the community,

00:06:31.918 --> 00:06:35.976
in response to the
government's campaign to deprive

00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:39.685
and ban Baha'is from
entering universities.

00:06:39.709 --> 00:06:43.268
Studying at BIHE
and being a BIHE student

00:06:43.292 --> 00:06:44.185
is very challenging.

00:06:44.209 --> 00:06:47.810
Students are always living with
this feeling of uncertainty,

00:06:47.834 --> 00:06:51.435
because you never know if
your university will be there

00:06:51.459 --> 00:06:52.643
tomorrow or not.

00:06:52.667 --> 00:06:55.852
I never knew if my professors
will be arrested tomorrow

00:06:55.876 --> 00:06:58.852
or not, so the fear
always exists.

00:06:58.876 --> 00:07:02.602
I am the second generation
of Baha'is who are facing

00:07:02.626 --> 00:07:05.101
the systematic denial
of education.

00:07:05.125 --> 00:07:09.018
BIHE students don't study for
the degree because they know

00:07:09.042 --> 00:07:10.643
that with the
degree they receive,

00:07:10.667 --> 00:07:14.143
there is no guarantee for
them to find a job in Iran.

00:07:14.167 --> 00:07:16.685
They study because
they love to learn.

00:07:16.709 --> 00:07:21.101
And professors don't teach
because of getting credit

00:07:21.125 --> 00:07:25.351
or financial compensation,
but they teach

00:07:25.375 --> 00:07:26.935
because they love to teach.

00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:31.643
And not only that, but they
put their lives in line.

00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:50.852
I was born a few years
after the revolution.

00:07:50.876 --> 00:07:55.768
I think from the very
beginning, my family,

00:07:55.792 --> 00:07:58.976
like my parents,
went through a lot.

00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:02.768
I always remember
a happy childhood,

00:08:02.792 --> 00:08:05.685
although when I'm coming
back to that time,

00:08:05.709 --> 00:08:10.685
I kind of feel like it
was really a time of

00:08:10.709 --> 00:08:12.560
like horror and terror.

00:08:12.584 --> 00:08:18.935
And it's a kind of my, the way
of my mind to forget the memory

00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:24.792
that hurts me
or that we're not happy.

00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:31.727
My father was part of the
entrance exam of the BIHE.

00:08:31.751 --> 00:08:34.018
Me and my brother were helping.

00:08:34.042 --> 00:08:40.101
So we had a key for it, which we
match on the correct exam.

00:08:40.125 --> 00:08:41.643
It was so much fun.

00:08:41.667 --> 00:08:42.768
[laugh]

00:08:42.792 --> 00:08:44.768
The concept of fear
was always with me

00:08:44.792 --> 00:08:47.768
from the very start, the first
year of the school.

00:08:47.792 --> 00:08:51.435
I did not want to go to school,
because I already knew

00:08:51.459 --> 00:08:53.810
that I did not belong.

00:08:53.834 --> 00:08:57.727
I wouldn't mingle with others
because I knew that there is

00:08:57.751 --> 00:09:00.143
something that
shouldn't be said.

00:09:00.167 --> 00:09:03.143
There's something that
should be feared from.

00:09:03.167 --> 00:09:08.560
At school, we had a teacher
and he used to tell us stories

00:09:08.584 --> 00:09:15.226
of how they killed and they
massacred and they tortured

00:09:15.250 --> 00:09:16.310
Baha'is in their cities.

00:09:16.334 --> 00:09:18.101
The students would
laugh and again,

00:09:18.125 --> 00:09:19.935
no one knew that I was Baha'i.

00:09:19.959 --> 00:09:26.059
My parents was adamant that I
should get higher education.

00:09:26.083 --> 00:09:29.727
I already knew that there is
no hope for me for any higher

00:09:29.751 --> 00:09:33.976
education other than BIHE,
but I was happy.

00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:36.018
I knew two things.

00:09:36.042 --> 00:09:37.101
First, I have an option.

00:09:37.125 --> 00:09:42.976
Second, this option is better
than what I had in the past

00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.059
from normal education.

00:09:45.083 --> 00:09:48.727
I was born a year after the
Islamic Revolution.

00:09:48.751 --> 00:09:53.310
My father used to be an engineer
in the control tower

00:09:53.334 --> 00:09:55.393
of the Tehran airport.

00:09:55.417 --> 00:09:58.185
And a few months
before I was born,

00:09:58.209 --> 00:10:01.268
he was fired for being a Baha'i.

00:10:01.292 --> 00:10:07.185
Education was quite valued in
our family and I always loved

00:10:07.209 --> 00:10:09.894
science, specifically biology.

00:10:09.918 --> 00:10:13.602
I was born in Qashan, it's a
city at the centre of Iran,

00:10:13.626 --> 00:10:16.852
but I grew up in Qarmashah,
at the west of Iran.

00:10:16.876 --> 00:10:19.685
I remember that the first time
they came to our house, when I

00:10:19.709 --> 00:10:23.435
was very young,
there were many agents.

00:10:23.459 --> 00:10:24.602
They were searching everywhere.

00:10:24.626 --> 00:10:29.143
I was worried that they
might take my parents as well,

00:10:29.167 --> 00:10:31.018
or even myself when I got older.

00:10:31.042 --> 00:10:34.727
And I was thinking when
I was in high school,

00:10:34.751 --> 00:10:36.018
I really loved my country.

00:10:36.042 --> 00:10:39.143
And the main reason that I'm
studying and I wanted to go to

00:10:39.167 --> 00:10:42.310
university was because I
wanted to render service

00:10:42.334 --> 00:10:43.310
to the country.

00:10:43.334 --> 00:10:46.393
Despite all the
challenges that you have

00:10:46.417 --> 00:10:48.935
as a Baha'i growing up in Iran,

00:10:48.959 --> 00:10:53.685
I mean, I have all these like,
fond, beautiful memories.

00:10:53.709 --> 00:10:57.435
Three sisters,
wonderful mom and dad.

00:10:57.459 --> 00:11:00.685
My dad has two master's
degrees, one from Iran,

00:11:00.709 --> 00:11:03.727
one from Georgia
Tech here in the US.

00:11:03.751 --> 00:11:05.393
And he had a good job.

00:11:05.417 --> 00:11:10.000
And when the revolution
happened, he was expelled.

00:11:11.167 --> 00:11:13.435
I was born in Shiraz, Iran.

00:11:13.459 --> 00:11:18.518
And I studied in the same
city all throughout my

00:11:18.542 --> 00:11:22.393
elementary school, high school,
and then university,

00:11:22.417 --> 00:11:28.518
that was basically interrupted
by the Cultural Revolution.

00:11:28.542 --> 00:11:32.560
When the revolution broke
in 1979, they closed

00:11:32.584 --> 00:11:37.852
all the universities throughout
Iran in order to Islamize.

00:11:37.876 --> 00:11:41.018
In this reopening
of the university,

00:11:41.042 --> 00:11:47.685
then all the Baha'i students
were denied re-entering

00:11:47.709 --> 00:11:48.894
the university.

00:11:48.918 --> 00:11:51.602
And I was one of them.

00:11:51.626 --> 00:11:52.852
With the rewriting

00:11:52.876 --> 00:11:55.143
of the constitution in 1979,

00:11:55.167 --> 00:11:57.685
and again Baha'is
being left out,

00:11:57.709 --> 00:12:00.351
there was no
protection whatsoever.

00:12:00.375 --> 00:12:03.500
You were a Baha'i, you were out.

00:12:06.876 --> 00:12:11.435
The entrance examination that
happens throughout Iran every

00:12:11.459 --> 00:12:18.018
year became that gateway to
control and prevent

00:12:18.042 --> 00:12:24.101
Baha'is from entering any
university in Iran.

00:12:24.125 --> 00:12:27.476
[typewriter]

00:12:32.042 --> 00:12:35.602
Initially, you had to check
off one of the religions

00:12:35.626 --> 00:12:37.935
that were mentioned in
the constitution.

00:12:37.959 --> 00:12:42.560
Islam, Christianity, Judaism,
and Zoroastrian religions.

00:12:42.584 --> 00:12:44.602
They realized that
this is a red flag.

00:12:44.626 --> 00:12:49.685
It changed to you have a
defect in your application

00:12:49.709 --> 00:12:54.542
without really defining what
that defect was.

00:12:56.250 --> 00:12:58.894
Now, due to
international reaction,

00:12:58.918 --> 00:13:03.602
they say you have to declare
that you do not belong to any

00:13:03.626 --> 00:13:05.351
unlawful groups.

00:13:05.375 --> 00:13:06.894
So the forms have changed.

00:13:06.918 --> 00:13:09.476
The verbiage on those
forms have changed.

00:13:09.500 --> 00:13:13.018
But the end result
is still the same.

00:13:13.042 --> 00:13:13.852
No admission.

00:13:13.876 --> 00:13:16.018
The reality is that
nothing has changed,

00:13:16.042 --> 00:13:18.935
but they wanted
to say that, okay,

00:13:18.959 --> 00:13:23.560
we don't ask about the religion.

00:13:26.167 --> 00:13:29.101
That year, all Baha'is
were encouraged,

00:13:29.125 --> 00:13:32.018
no matter are you in
university, already in BIHE

00:13:32.042 --> 00:13:36.310
or not, encouraged to
take part in the konkours

00:13:36.334 --> 00:13:38.894
to see how it goes.

00:13:38.918 --> 00:13:40.435
[foot steps]

00:13:40.459 --> 00:13:42.393
I took the test.

00:13:42.417 --> 00:13:43.518
I was a good student.

00:13:43.542 --> 00:13:46.518
But it was always in
the back of my head

00:13:46.542 --> 00:13:47.852
that they will not let me in.

00:13:47.876 --> 00:13:55.351
So probably I will not go to the
universities that everyone goes.

00:13:58.709 --> 00:14:03.351
It ended up, they say
the file is incomplete.

00:14:03.375 --> 00:14:05.185
♪ ♪

00:14:05.209 --> 00:14:09.518
We couldn't get our marks and
we couldn't select our subject,

00:14:09.542 --> 00:14:13.209
so we never get to there.

00:14:15.375 --> 00:14:16.560
[Dr. Mina Yazdani]
Years after,

00:14:16.584 --> 00:14:19.268
the Baha'i community
could now think about

00:14:19.292 --> 00:14:23.685
what are we going to do with
all these youths that have been

00:14:23.709 --> 00:14:28.476
expelled from universities and
the new generations every year

00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:31.351
that are graduating
from high school.

00:14:31.375 --> 00:14:35.727
[Tolou] So we had classes most
of the time in the homes.

00:14:35.751 --> 00:14:40.059
The professor who taught
biochemistry, Dr. Khwadadadeh,

00:14:40.083 --> 00:14:43.935
we went to his house
and then the biochemistry lab

00:14:43.959 --> 00:14:45.393
was on the basement.

00:14:45.417 --> 00:14:50.351
You felt connected
and united and welcomed.

00:14:50.375 --> 00:14:56.518


00:14:56.542 --> 00:14:58.643
[Tolou]
They sacrificed their life

00:14:58.667 --> 00:15:01.101
on the basis of volunteerism.

00:15:01.125 --> 00:15:03.602
It was very risky.

00:15:03.626 --> 00:15:08.685
There were so many people that
did not have any children

00:15:08.709 --> 00:15:10.018
that go to BIHE,

00:15:10.042 --> 00:15:12.518
but they always gave their home.

00:15:12.542 --> 00:15:14.852
Then they cooked for them.

00:15:14.876 --> 00:15:20.143
The concept of service in
a university is completely

00:15:20.167 --> 00:15:23.185
a different realm.

00:15:23.209 --> 00:15:24.852
But really in BIHE,

00:15:24.876 --> 00:15:29.334
these are the basics
for the university.

00:15:29.626 --> 00:15:34.918


00:15:52.626 --> 00:16:08.476
[Singing prayer in
foreign language]

00:16:08.500 --> 00:16:11.351
[Dr. Forouzan Golshani]
This is what the word

00:16:11.375 --> 00:16:16.727
Constructive Resilience
means to me at least.

00:16:16.751 --> 00:16:22.310
When I first heard this phrase,
I did not realize how closely

00:16:22.334 --> 00:16:26.018
it embodied what's
happening here.

00:16:26.042 --> 00:16:29.310
[Shakib] They created a
sophisticated system of network.

00:16:29.334 --> 00:16:31.351
A local person would
receive the assignment,

00:16:31.375 --> 00:16:34.476
handed it over all by
hand to someone else.

00:16:34.500 --> 00:16:36.852
This person would
take it to Tehran.

00:16:36.876 --> 00:16:41.101
At a certain time, a certain
day, they would all organize.

00:16:41.125 --> 00:16:44.143
Then the instructor
would review it,

00:16:44.167 --> 00:16:47.894
with comments,
sent all the way back.

00:16:47.918 --> 00:16:50.476
That system exists.

00:16:50.500 --> 00:16:53.476
Imagine that happening
to every city

00:16:53.500 --> 00:16:56.059
and little cities in Iran.

00:16:56.083 --> 00:16:58.351
For exams, where would
you have the exams?

00:16:58.375 --> 00:17:00.727
At the home of
another Baha'i, right?

00:17:00.751 --> 00:17:04.185
Sent to all these
centres across Iran.

00:17:04.209 --> 00:17:08.476
For just the exams to happen
at a certain time and with

00:17:08.500 --> 00:17:11.268
honesty, with standards.

00:17:11.292 --> 00:17:15.059
And imagine at that time there
were five, six faculties,

00:17:15.083 --> 00:17:19.602
several programs, several
cohorts at different years

00:17:19.626 --> 00:17:20.476
going through this.

00:17:20.500 --> 00:17:25.018
The number and the coordination
that it takes on a scale that I

00:17:25.042 --> 00:17:27.834
think is unprecedented.

00:17:28.751 --> 00:17:33.185
[Neda] When I started, it was
the first year that they decided

00:17:33.209 --> 00:17:34.185
to have biology.

00:17:34.209 --> 00:17:36.852
At least two of the profs
that were non-Baha'i,

00:17:36.876 --> 00:17:41.351
they completely know about
the BIHE and the concept

00:17:41.375 --> 00:17:45.810
that they would be coming in,
teaching to Baha'i students

00:17:45.834 --> 00:17:47.852
who were deprived of
higher education.

00:17:47.876 --> 00:17:51.560
And if they were arrested,
that would be the real end

00:17:51.584 --> 00:17:54.476
for their career
and potentially their lives.

00:17:54.500 --> 00:17:58.602
I still remember that day that
this prof came to the class

00:17:58.626 --> 00:18:01.268
with a big black garbage bag.

00:18:01.292 --> 00:18:05.602
And he opened the garbage bag
and it was full of

00:18:05.626 --> 00:18:08.959
random human bones.

00:18:10.542 --> 00:18:13.226
In order to provide
material for his course,

00:18:13.250 --> 00:18:16.894
he had to go back to the
university where he studied.

00:18:16.918 --> 00:18:19.810
As if he was
interested, right?

00:18:19.834 --> 00:18:22.518
Because he needed
those to teach us.

00:18:22.542 --> 00:18:28.375


00:18:55.042 --> 00:18:57.518
[Neda] Because he was in such a
hurry when he was taking the

00:18:57.542 --> 00:19:02.268
bones, he couldn't pay attention
to what he was doing exactly.

00:19:02.292 --> 00:19:06.643
So we had, for example, collar
bones from the right side,

00:19:06.667 --> 00:19:11.643
but the shoulder bone from the
left side and the arm bone from

00:19:11.667 --> 00:19:12.518
the other side.

00:19:12.542 --> 00:19:13.810
So nothing would match.

00:19:13.834 --> 00:19:19.042


00:20:00.209 --> 00:20:02.685
[Neda] And it's a nightmare for
any medical student to learn

00:20:02.709 --> 00:20:04.393
the anatomy of the skull.

00:20:04.417 --> 00:20:06.518
He managed to grab one skull.

00:20:06.542 --> 00:20:09.351
That skull...

00:20:09.375 --> 00:20:11.560
had defects in it.

00:20:11.584 --> 00:20:13.602
The shapes were
not quite right,

00:20:13.626 --> 00:20:16.310
but that was the only
thing that he had.

00:20:16.334 --> 00:20:17.727
[students] Ohh, uhmm....

00:20:17.751 --> 00:20:19.685
[Neda]
Funny, funny at the same time.

00:20:19.709 --> 00:20:24.125


00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:52.226
[Iqan] I applied to be admitted
in sociology in BIHE.

00:20:52.250 --> 00:20:55.143
Although I was really
good at physics and maths,

00:20:55.167 --> 00:20:58.143
but I decided to do sociology
because I thought maybe

00:20:58.167 --> 00:21:01.976
social science would be
more useful for Iran,

00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.852
and sociology is one
of the majors

00:21:04.876 --> 00:21:07.959
that can help people actually.

00:21:08.792 --> 00:21:12.018
Hundreds of students were
coming to Tehran with an address

00:21:12.042 --> 00:21:15.852
on a paper to go to a place
that they didn't know

00:21:15.876 --> 00:21:17.351
where they are going.

00:21:17.375 --> 00:21:21.101
Usually, BIHE was functioning
in a way that it helped all the

00:21:21.125 --> 00:21:25.226
students from different towns
to come to Tehran for a very

00:21:25.250 --> 00:21:28.709
intense period, like for a week.

00:21:30.375 --> 00:21:33.602
It was a bit difficult to be
on the bus for ten hours

00:21:33.626 --> 00:21:39.375
to get all the lessons you need
and to go back again.

00:21:46.125 --> 00:21:49.143
Tehran is very huge
and it's confusing.

00:21:49.167 --> 00:21:51.560
And at the time there
wasn't Google Maps.

00:21:51.584 --> 00:21:56.268
When I arrived at the bus
terminal for the first time,

00:21:56.292 --> 00:21:59.000
I was thinking,
"Where should I go?"

00:22:07.209 --> 00:22:11.417
In Karmasha, I never
faced heavy traffic.

00:22:12.584 --> 00:22:14.852
I remember the first time
that I wanted to attend

00:22:14.876 --> 00:22:19.560
my BIHE class, I arrived with
a two and a half hours delay.

00:22:19.584 --> 00:22:23.810
The Poonak building,
two floors of it were rented

00:22:23.834 --> 00:22:26.292
by the Baha'i community.

00:22:27.751 --> 00:22:29.518
It was the first time
for me to experience

00:22:29.542 --> 00:22:32.727
that I'm going to a university
with a building at least.

00:22:32.751 --> 00:22:39.209
It wasn't in the dining room
or like the kitchen of a house.

00:22:47.751 --> 00:22:52.435
The cafeteria was used by
everyone in the building,

00:22:52.459 --> 00:22:53.935
Baha'is and non-Baha'is.

00:22:53.959 --> 00:22:58.602
And you could see how students
are getting together and they're

00:22:58.626 --> 00:23:00.185
associating with each other.

00:23:00.209 --> 00:23:02.351
[students]
Hey, hello...

00:23:02.375 --> 00:23:03.935
[Iqan] It was really easy to
understand that,

00:23:03.959 --> 00:23:07.185
Okay, there are a group of
Baha'is and they're laughing,

00:23:07.209 --> 00:23:09.435
they're smiling.

00:23:09.459 --> 00:23:12.894
And some of the students,
they weren't thinking that they

00:23:12.918 --> 00:23:16.459
were deprived of higher
education anymore.

00:23:18.375 --> 00:23:23.643
But it didn't take a long
time for the BIHE to lose that

00:23:23.667 --> 00:23:30.351
building as well, because it
was a Baha'i institution.

00:23:30.375 --> 00:23:35.310
[foot steps]

00:23:44.042 --> 00:23:46.518
[Niknaz] The time came
for me and I couldn't go

00:23:46.542 --> 00:23:50.000
to any university in Iran.

00:23:50.417 --> 00:23:54.894
Even Iranians, not all of them
know about what Baha'is have

00:23:54.918 --> 00:24:00.518
gone through and specifically
this educational discrimination.

00:24:00.542 --> 00:24:03.727
Because education
for Baha'i families,

00:24:03.751 --> 00:24:07.018
academic education
is so important.

00:24:07.042 --> 00:24:09.018
When I was a student at BIHE,

00:24:09.042 --> 00:24:12.018
I was working on
different projects.

00:24:12.042 --> 00:24:16.101
So we usually need some
precedent studies and some

00:24:16.125 --> 00:24:18.268
similar projects to look at.

00:24:18.292 --> 00:24:20.935
Sometimes I would go to
university libraries

00:24:20.959 --> 00:24:24.143
to access resources.

00:24:24.167 --> 00:24:27.375


00:24:28.250 --> 00:24:32.018
BIHE students don't
have any student ID.

00:24:32.042 --> 00:24:36.250
So we basically don't
exist as students.

00:24:38.667 --> 00:24:43.542


00:25:05.125 --> 00:25:11.042
[Niknaz] All you need is a book
and you're banned from it.

00:25:13.542 --> 00:25:16.185
The classes were
in people's homes.

00:25:16.209 --> 00:25:20.018
It was just normal
apartment buildings.

00:25:20.042 --> 00:25:24.685
So you had to be extra cautious,
because you didn't want

00:25:24.709 --> 00:25:28.250
to attract attention.

00:25:31.250 --> 00:25:35.018
You would potentially see some
motorcycles, because if people

00:25:35.042 --> 00:25:38.685
were followed, they were
usually followed by people

00:25:38.709 --> 00:25:41.852
who were on motorcycles.

00:25:41.876 --> 00:25:45.226
[motorcycle drives past]

00:25:45.250 --> 00:25:47.727
Potentially they would
be the agents

00:25:47.751 --> 00:25:49.518
of the intelligence services.

00:25:49.542 --> 00:25:54.018
Many of our friends have been
arrested by those or have been

00:25:54.042 --> 00:25:56.584
kidnapped by those.

00:25:57.167 --> 00:26:01.059
If we saw, for example,
another student at the door,

00:26:01.083 --> 00:26:03.125
we would wait.

00:26:07.250 --> 00:26:07.976
[motorcycle drives past]

00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:13.459
People would hesitate whether
we should actually go in or not.

00:26:14.167 --> 00:26:16.018
[Dr. Forouzan Golshani]
Most people refer to BIHE

00:26:16.042 --> 00:26:17.976
as an underground university.

00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:20.518
Maybe it is underground,
but it is very well known

00:26:20.542 --> 00:26:21.976
by the Iranian government.

00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:26.935
And it's something that the
government has tried to suppress

00:26:26.959 --> 00:26:30.459
ever since its inception.

00:26:30.709 --> 00:26:32.101
[Dr. Mina Yazdani]
A confidential memorandum

00:26:32.125 --> 00:26:37.852
that was signed by the Supreme
Leader, Khamenei, leaked.

00:26:37.876 --> 00:26:41.310
The memorandum was
on Baha'i question,

00:26:41.334 --> 00:26:41.935
what to do with Baha'is.

00:26:41.959 --> 00:26:46.685
And from that point, it became
official government policy.

00:26:46.709 --> 00:26:49.976
Their progress must be blocked.

00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:53.810
If it is known that
somebody is a Baha'i,

00:26:53.834 --> 00:26:55.852
they should be
expelled immediately.

00:26:55.876 --> 00:26:59.018
This memorandum shows
you what the plan

00:26:59.042 --> 00:27:01.059
of the government has been.

00:27:01.083 --> 00:27:04.268
As Baha'is, we obey the law of
government, when it comes to

00:27:04.292 --> 00:27:09.101
something that is our
principles, like education.

00:27:09.125 --> 00:27:11.768
Sorry, we are not going to obey.

00:27:11.792 --> 00:27:17.101
[Shakib] In the NGO that I used
to work at, at that time,

00:27:17.125 --> 00:27:22.310
as a counselor, I was sitting
at that day with a client.

00:27:22.334 --> 00:27:27.375


00:27:31.959 --> 00:27:33.518
[Shakib]
A colleague ran through.

00:27:33.542 --> 00:27:34.560
This does not happen, right?

00:27:34.584 --> 00:27:38.310
You are not supposed to open
the door while a psychotherapy

00:27:38.334 --> 00:27:39.185
session is going on.

00:27:39.209 --> 00:27:41.310


00:27:41.334 --> 00:27:44.018
[Shakib] I felt something
go through me,

00:27:44.042 --> 00:27:46.268
I realized something
bad has happened.

00:27:46.292 --> 00:27:51.209


00:28:37.918 --> 00:28:39.852
[typing on keyboard]

00:28:39.876 --> 00:28:40.518
[Shakib] I was scared.

00:28:40.542 --> 00:28:42.018
I was like,
"Maybe my home has been raided."

00:28:42.042 --> 00:28:46.518
My house was always the centre
of a lot of activities, classes.

00:28:46.542 --> 00:28:49.834
There were so many names.

00:28:51.667 --> 00:28:53.459
I ran home.

00:28:53.542 --> 00:28:59.083
We started grabbing things,
everything that could be burnt.

00:29:00.209 --> 00:29:02.810


00:29:02.834 --> 00:29:05.685
[Shakib] And you waited.

00:29:10.709 --> 00:29:11.226
[birds chirping]

00:29:11.250 --> 00:29:14.560
I learned that all the homes
of all my colleagues,

00:29:14.584 --> 00:29:16.334
they were all arrested.

00:29:16.500 --> 00:29:19.518
And they had
confiscated everything.

00:29:19.542 --> 00:29:21.268
[fire crackling]

00:29:21.292 --> 00:29:27.018
I would receive randomly
calls with no caller ID,

00:29:27.042 --> 00:29:28.101
threatening me.

00:29:28.125 --> 00:29:36.417
[phone rings]

00:29:42.626 --> 00:29:44.685
[Dr. Mina Yazdani] What is the
goal of the persecution

00:29:44.709 --> 00:29:45.476
of the Baha'is?

00:29:45.500 --> 00:29:49.435
They want Baha'is
to convert to Islam.

00:29:49.459 --> 00:29:53.059
(suspenseful music)

00:29:53.083 --> 00:30:00.185
Iran is a country in which the
majority of Muslims are Shias.

00:30:00.209 --> 00:30:03.685
And then we have
10 percent non-Shias.

00:30:03.709 --> 00:30:09.435
Out of that percentage,
then we have Sunni Muslims.

00:30:09.459 --> 00:30:17.143
And then we have Baha'is as
the larger non-Muslim minority.

00:30:20.751 --> 00:30:24.351
Given what was going on in
terms of the arrest of Baha'is,

00:30:24.375 --> 00:30:28.226
execution, our plate, that is
the university students'

00:30:28.250 --> 00:30:33.852
deprivation of higher education,
really was not such a big deal.

00:30:33.876 --> 00:30:36.894
Now we know that in
its long-term effects,

00:30:36.918 --> 00:30:40.852
that was one of the worst
plans of the government.

00:30:44.584 --> 00:30:48.852
[Dr. Forouzan Golshani] Over
its brief lifetime since 1987,

00:30:48.876 --> 00:30:52.185
the Baha'i Institute for
Higher Education has continued

00:30:52.209 --> 00:30:53.185
its operation.

00:30:53.209 --> 00:30:59.768
And yet there have been multiple
periods of complete shakedown.

00:30:59.792 --> 00:31:03.185
The removal of everything
that the government

00:31:03.209 --> 00:31:05.351
could get hold of.

00:31:05.375 --> 00:31:07.643
[car screeches to a halt]

00:31:11.125 --> 00:31:13.542


00:31:15.209 --> 00:31:20.167


00:31:53.083 --> 00:31:56.560
[Shakib] The regime intended to
shut down the university.

00:31:56.584 --> 00:32:00.101
- We feel that all
our hopes are lost.

00:32:00.125 --> 00:32:02.351
BIHE is going to shut down.

00:32:36.876 --> 00:32:39.018
[Dr. Forouzan Golshani]
There were a series of raids.

00:32:39.042 --> 00:32:43.685
Homes were attacked, ransacked,
property was confiscated,

00:32:43.709 --> 00:32:47.768
and multiple individuals
in connection with BIHE

00:32:47.792 --> 00:32:50.185
were imprisoned.

00:32:50.209 --> 00:32:51.226
[Dr. Mina Yazdani]
In Persian calendar,

00:32:51.250 --> 00:32:58.018
it was the seventh day of the
seventh month of the year, '77.

00:32:58.042 --> 00:32:59.810
Everybody remembers that day,

00:32:59.834 --> 00:33:04.125
and it was an
orchestrated attack.

00:33:05.751 --> 00:33:09.852
They confiscated everything,
and they arrested protesters

00:33:09.876 --> 00:33:13.250
and instructors, all of them.

00:33:14.834 --> 00:33:17.852
[Dr. Forouzan Golshani] This is
well-documented, New York Times.

00:33:17.876 --> 00:33:21.185
They extensively covered the
raids and what the Iranian

00:33:21.209 --> 00:33:25.602
government targeted, and their
objectives in basically trying

00:33:25.626 --> 00:33:30.351
to completely stop
BIHE from functioning.

00:33:30.375 --> 00:33:37.393
[Tolou] It was May 2011,
that the government of Iran

00:33:37.417 --> 00:33:43.852
raided many homes of the people
connected to BIHE.

00:33:43.876 --> 00:33:48.935
They confiscated lots of
whatever belonged to me,

00:33:48.959 --> 00:33:51.685
and then they actually
went a bit beyond.

00:33:51.709 --> 00:33:56.518
They confiscated some of my
parents' personal items as well,

00:33:56.542 --> 00:34:00.685
which was illegal because they
didn't have the warrant

00:34:00.709 --> 00:34:01.101
for that.

00:34:01.125 --> 00:34:06.268
After two days, they called me,
and then they asked me to go to

00:34:06.292 --> 00:34:11.310
a place that is basically
a place for interrogation.

00:34:11.334 --> 00:34:15.435
[Shakib] I received a call, no
caller ID, unknown number,

00:34:15.459 --> 00:34:16.018
[phone rings]

00:34:16.042 --> 00:34:18.852
and they told me I have to
introduce myself to so-and-so

00:34:18.876 --> 00:34:23.560
place, which was a house, safe
house, a place that, you know,

00:34:23.584 --> 00:34:24.602
they interrogated people.

00:34:24.626 --> 00:34:28.351
There were a couple of others
who were being interrogated in

00:34:28.375 --> 00:34:30.643
that room, all Baha'is.

00:34:30.667 --> 00:34:32.643
He was so aggressive with them.

00:34:32.667 --> 00:34:33.768
He would break my heart.

00:34:33.792 --> 00:34:40.125


00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:52.894
[Shakib] And he knew that I
could hear all this,

00:34:52.918 --> 00:34:54.101
but he would play that, right?

00:34:54.125 --> 00:34:57.393
[Tolou] I went there, and there
were already lots of Baha'is

00:34:57.417 --> 00:35:01.018
that I know that they were
all related to, BIHE.

00:35:01.042 --> 00:35:05.393
And they usually ask a question
and also give you a pen

00:35:05.417 --> 00:35:08.959
and paper to write
down the answer.

00:35:11.209 --> 00:35:17.584


00:35:20.209 --> 00:35:26.626


00:35:36.042 --> 00:35:40.810
[Tolou] Some Baha'is like to
write the name of Teheran

00:35:40.834 --> 00:35:43.518
with a different T letter.

00:35:43.542 --> 00:35:46.810
It goes back to the
time of Baha'u'llah,

00:35:46.834 --> 00:35:47.894
the founder of Baha'i Faith.

00:35:47.918 --> 00:35:53.435
So I wrote it that way,
and it made him very angry.

00:35:53.459 --> 00:35:53.935
I'm quite stubborn.

00:35:53.959 --> 00:35:59.852
If someone tells me that
you should do it, order me,

00:35:59.876 --> 00:36:01.268
I will not do it.

00:36:01.292 --> 00:36:02.185
It's not good.

00:36:02.209 --> 00:36:02.685
I'm not proud of it.

00:36:02.709 --> 00:36:06.852
But that's, I think, it was
also an interrogation.

00:36:06.876 --> 00:36:13.167


00:38:12.334 --> 00:38:13.101
[sigh]

00:38:13.125 --> 00:38:16.185
[Tolou]
After three hours with him,

00:38:16.209 --> 00:38:17.476
a second person came.

00:38:17.500 --> 00:38:20.976
And I learned that this
is the way that they do.

00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:23.018
They always have
two interrogators.

00:38:23.042 --> 00:38:26.268
One is frightening,
one is softer,

00:38:26.292 --> 00:38:29.125
but I think that's their trick.

00:38:30.876 --> 00:38:36.560
They had time to look at
whatever they confiscated.

00:38:36.584 --> 00:38:39.768
Lots of pictures that
I had, they printed out.

00:38:39.792 --> 00:38:43.852
All of those pictures were
already on the table

00:38:43.876 --> 00:38:45.518
when I came in.

00:38:45.542 --> 00:38:50.518
They just want to show
that we know a lot about you.

00:38:52.876 --> 00:38:57.393
I think that's really a
psychological game that they do.

00:39:02.709 --> 00:39:07.250
The other interrogator
did not really talk much.

00:39:10.375 --> 00:39:15.626


00:39:51.334 --> 00:39:55.852
[Tolou] But to be honest,
I wasn't afraid.

00:39:55.876 --> 00:40:02.560
I don't know why, but I
wasn't afraid of him.

00:40:02.584 --> 00:40:07.560
And the main point, they were
trying to tell me that I am

00:40:07.584 --> 00:40:12.101
doing an illegal thing
by teaching in BIHE.

00:40:12.125 --> 00:40:18.852


00:40:18.876 --> 00:40:24.852
♪ ♪

00:40:24.876 --> 00:40:28.083
(speaking foreign language]

00:40:31.042 --> 00:40:35.810
[Shakib] I wrote some things
and he also wanted me to write

00:40:35.834 --> 00:40:38.643
about my friends
and I said, "I can't do that."

00:40:38.667 --> 00:40:41.393
You know, you can ask
questions about me.

00:40:43.042 --> 00:40:47.059
It finished and surprisingly
he let me go.

00:40:47.083 --> 00:40:52.226
But after that day, whenever
the phone would ring,

00:40:52.250 --> 00:40:52.852
it would jump.

00:40:52.876 --> 00:40:59.643
[thunder crack]
[phone ringing]

00:41:00.626 --> 00:41:07.185


00:41:07.209 --> 00:41:08.976
♪ ♪

00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:11.685
[Shakib] He asked me to
present myself to Evin

00:41:11.709 --> 00:41:14.685
for another round
of interrogation.

00:41:16.626 --> 00:41:20.185
I knew that there is at least 60
percent chance that we're not

00:41:20.209 --> 00:41:20.727
gonna come back.

00:41:20.751 --> 00:41:24.310
[Tolou] After these questioning,
a third person came.

00:41:24.334 --> 00:41:28.685
And it was obvious that
he's the boss of two.

00:41:39.876 --> 00:41:46.500


00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:29.935
[Tolou] But then after a while,

00:43:29.959 --> 00:43:33.018
one of them came
and just says, "You go."

00:43:36.876 --> 00:43:39.768
[Iqan] We got a call telling
us that the same agent

00:43:39.792 --> 00:43:43.059
is around and is
knocking at your door.

00:43:43.083 --> 00:43:49.059
So you might consider not
to return home tonight.

00:43:49.083 --> 00:43:51.018
Because it was near midnight.

00:43:51.042 --> 00:43:54.894
And I was telling my parents
that it doesn't make sense

00:43:54.918 --> 00:43:58.059
for us not to go home because
they know where we live.

00:43:58.083 --> 00:44:01.185
And if we don't
go home tonight,

00:44:01.209 --> 00:44:03.018
they would come tomorrow.

00:44:03.042 --> 00:44:05.018
And the moment we
entered the street,

00:44:05.042 --> 00:44:07.185
I saw two cars
coming towards us,

00:44:07.209 --> 00:44:09.852
one from the back and
one in front of us.

00:44:13.292 --> 00:44:18.709


00:44:26.042 --> 00:44:29.059
[Iqan] But I didn't have enough
time to get into the house

00:44:29.083 --> 00:44:30.018
and close the door.

00:44:30.042 --> 00:44:35.417


00:44:39.626 --> 00:44:42.018
[Iqan] So they took me,
and I couldn't say goodbye

00:44:42.042 --> 00:44:42.560
to my family.

00:44:42.584 --> 00:44:47.143
They started driving for,
I don't know, like 15 minutes.

00:44:47.167 --> 00:44:48.393
And the car stopped.

00:44:48.417 --> 00:44:49.226
I had blindfold.

00:44:49.250 --> 00:44:49.976
I didn't know where I am.

00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:53.185
So they took my hands and they
were whispering something.

00:44:53.209 --> 00:44:55.685
So they took me to
solitary confinement.

00:44:55.709 --> 00:44:58.292
-Ommmfff

00:44:59.542 --> 00:45:01.476
[Attacker] Speaks in
foreign language.

00:45:01.500 --> 00:45:05.018
[suspenseful music]

00:45:05.042 --> 00:45:07.310
[Iqan] It was very scary for me
at the time, because I had

00:45:07.334 --> 00:45:13.476
heard from the news that some
of the detainees that have been

00:45:13.500 --> 00:45:15.018
raped in the solitary
confinement.

00:45:15.042 --> 00:45:19.852
In other words, I had that image
of myself when I was there.

00:45:24.042 --> 00:45:27.059
Nothing happened that night
until the day after that,

00:45:27.083 --> 00:45:29.518
that they started
interrogating me.

00:45:29.542 --> 00:45:35.375


00:46:12.375 --> 00:46:13.894
[smack]

00:46:17.375 --> 00:46:19.518
[Iqan] I was 21 year-old when I

00:46:19.542 --> 00:46:23.643
was arrested and when all
these things were happening.

00:46:23.667 --> 00:46:24.476
[gasp]

00:46:24.500 --> 00:46:28.310
It was a daily interrogation,
a whole day interrogation.

00:46:28.334 --> 00:46:35.125
[groaning]

00:46:40.375 --> 00:46:44.268
[Tolou] They summoned us to
the branch of a court,

00:46:44.292 --> 00:46:46.018
but in Evin prison.

00:46:46.042 --> 00:46:49.852
The truth is, well, when
Baha'is go to the court,

00:46:49.876 --> 00:46:55.518
they already have an
idea of what may happen.

00:46:55.542 --> 00:47:01.727
So we prepared ourselves with my
lawyer that we tried to convince

00:47:01.751 --> 00:47:06.852
the judge, which his
name was Ozzie Morisset,

00:47:06.876 --> 00:47:08.518
which is the judge
for many Baha'is.

00:47:08.542 --> 00:47:13.351
So we already knew that he's not
a soft judge and he usually gave

00:47:13.375 --> 00:47:17.143
the highest years of punishment.

00:47:17.167 --> 00:47:21.351
There are so many lawyers in
Iran that accept to be the

00:47:21.375 --> 00:47:25.685
lawyer of the Baha'is with all
the consequences that they may

00:47:25.709 --> 00:47:27.852
have and they already had.

00:47:27.876 --> 00:47:35.042


00:48:16.709 --> 00:48:17.727
[Tolou] I mean,
these courts,

00:48:17.751 --> 00:48:22.310
you're not there to
provide evidence.

00:48:22.334 --> 00:48:24.435
They already set up their mind.

00:48:24.459 --> 00:48:30.500


00:49:27.459 --> 00:49:29.059
[Tolou]
Trying to think about, okay,

00:49:29.083 --> 00:49:34.351
What I'm going to do with my
life, cause, well,

00:49:34.375 --> 00:49:38.018
if I get the sentence then
eventually I will go

00:49:38.042 --> 00:49:40.852
to the prison.

00:49:40.876 --> 00:49:41.852
Do I want this.

00:49:41.876 --> 00:49:44.042
What do I want for my life.

00:49:49.709 --> 00:49:56.125


00:49:58.000 --> 00:50:00.268
[Iqan] One of them told me
that you were going home

00:50:00.292 --> 00:50:03.518
and I was thinking this is done.

00:50:03.542 --> 00:50:06.518


00:50:06.542 --> 00:50:07.768
[Shakib]
And I was at the airport.

00:50:07.792 --> 00:50:11.226
I had blindfold, but even
from the light of the streets,

00:50:11.250 --> 00:50:13.185
I could see.

00:50:13.209 --> 00:50:16.018
There were two agents with me.

00:50:16.042 --> 00:50:19.250


00:50:20.125 --> 00:50:25.834
[Iqan] They put also a handcuff
on my hands for the first time.

00:50:27.542 --> 00:50:31.101
I didn't know at the time that
I'm going to be taken to Tehran,

00:50:31.125 --> 00:50:34.351
just so I knew that I'm
going to be on a flight.

00:50:34.375 --> 00:50:36.518
And they were telling each
other that this guy is a bit

00:50:36.542 --> 00:50:39.018
different, although
they were whispering,

00:50:39.042 --> 00:50:41.125
but I could hear them.

00:50:43.250 --> 00:50:45.185
I didn't know why I am there.

00:50:45.209 --> 00:50:49.042
That was the main
question I had.

00:50:52.709 --> 00:50:57.185
I could see when the plane was
landing that it is Tehran from

00:50:57.209 --> 00:51:02.143
Azad-e-Tovar, and I understood
they are taking me to Tehran

00:51:02.167 --> 00:51:03.685
for further interrogations.

00:51:03.709 --> 00:51:05.894
And things became
more scary for me.

00:51:05.918 --> 00:51:09.792
I was thinking, oh my God, why
they are taking me to Tehran?

00:51:11.042 --> 00:51:16.602
And I was thinking maybe one
piece of puzzle for them is just

00:51:16.626 --> 00:51:19.250
to arrest some Baha'is.

00:51:20.417 --> 00:51:22.685
[Neda] Each time it happens,
it's horrible.

00:51:22.709 --> 00:51:28.059
Each time that
hopes are crushed.

00:51:28.083 --> 00:51:29.101
It's like horror movie.

00:51:29.125 --> 00:51:33.935
You expected something horrible
and you bought the ticket

00:51:33.959 --> 00:51:36.351
and you would expect
to be horrified.

00:51:36.375 --> 00:51:37.685
But you always jump.

00:51:37.709 --> 00:51:41.185
[Shakib]
I said goodbye to my wife.

00:51:41.209 --> 00:51:45.834
It was a difficult moment.

00:51:50.709 --> 00:51:56.083


00:52:27.500 --> 00:52:32.584
[Shakib] They want you
to feel unsafe, right?

00:52:38.459 --> 00:52:41.351
[suspenseful music]

00:52:41.375 --> 00:52:44.351
[Shakib] They stripped off
all of the clothes

00:52:44.375 --> 00:52:45.768
and the guy who was

00:52:45.792 --> 00:52:49.810
looking at me as I was
stripping off the clothes said,

00:52:49.834 --> 00:52:53.476
"What is your crime?"

00:52:53.500 --> 00:52:57.727
And I said,
"I teach psychology."

00:52:57.751 --> 00:52:59.268
He knew that
this is not right.

00:52:59.292 --> 00:53:01.334
I could see it in his eyes.

00:53:03.542 --> 00:53:09.685
And from that moment point,
we went to our own cells.

00:53:09.709 --> 00:53:10.310
which was very--

00:53:10.334 --> 00:53:14.185
I had prepared myself for it,
but it was very...

00:53:14.209 --> 00:53:16.226
it felt lonely when
I went there.

00:53:16.250 --> 00:53:18.894
[door crashes closed]

00:53:18.918 --> 00:53:21.059
[suspenseful music]

00:53:21.083 --> 00:53:22.351
[Shakib] To the
best of my ability,

00:53:22.375 --> 00:53:25.435
I tried to engage
myself in my cell,

00:53:25.459 --> 00:53:27.976
[sigh]
so I don't go crazy.

00:53:28.000 --> 00:53:33.310
[suspenseful music continues]

00:53:52.042 --> 00:53:57.334
On the wall you could see a
lot of hand written notes.

00:53:57.751 --> 00:54:01.059
And they were by people
from across the world.

00:54:01.083 --> 00:54:03.018
And I wondered some
of them could have

00:54:03.042 --> 00:54:06.476
been for Zahra Qasim,
the Canadian photographer from

00:54:06.500 --> 00:54:11.500
Montreal who was tortured to
death in that same prison.

00:54:13.000 --> 00:54:15.685
[scream]

00:54:15.709 --> 00:54:21.542


00:54:23.083 --> 00:54:26.792
[Shakib] I tried to cope.

00:54:29.459 --> 00:54:32.143
Your identity is there.

00:54:32.167 --> 00:54:33.351
[thunder crack]

00:54:33.375 --> 00:54:35.727
I don't need to hide it anymore.

00:54:35.751 --> 00:54:37.351
[water dripping]

00:54:37.375 --> 00:54:40.101
[Shakib] The moment that
you're in it finally.

00:54:40.125 --> 00:54:42.101
There's calmness
in that point.

00:54:42.125 --> 00:54:44.935
It's finally there.
I'm there. I'm here.

00:54:44.959 --> 00:54:47.685
You can do whatever
you want with me.

00:54:47.709 --> 00:54:49.518
[sigh]

00:54:49.542 --> 00:54:53.792
I was not a child anymore
to be always scared.

00:54:55.542 --> 00:54:59.976
[whistling]

00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:04.185
[whistling from outside cell]

00:55:04.209 --> 00:55:16.375
(speaking foreign language

00:55:21.584 --> 00:55:26.143
So they took me with
blindfold walking in

00:55:26.167 --> 00:55:28.685
this corridor, they set us free.

00:55:28.709 --> 00:55:30.894
At that time we
didn't know why,

00:55:30.918 --> 00:55:37.518
but we realized that it
better fit their scenario.

00:55:37.542 --> 00:55:40.518
The scenario was that as
psychologists we were teaching

00:55:40.542 --> 00:55:44.268
our faith, Baha'i faith
to our clients,

00:55:44.292 --> 00:55:46.018
which was absolutely not true.

00:55:46.042 --> 00:55:46.685
I lost everything.

00:55:46.709 --> 00:55:48.727
They made sure
that I lose my job.

00:55:48.751 --> 00:55:51.768
I left Iran at the end of 2012.

00:55:51.792 --> 00:55:54.476
When I arrived in Canada,

00:55:54.500 --> 00:55:56.894
three weeks after that,
four weeks after that,

00:55:56.918 --> 00:56:00.018
my mom received a phone
call from Evin prison.

00:56:00.042 --> 00:56:04.351
They said, "Your son has
a four-year sentence."

00:56:04.375 --> 00:56:09.059
And she laughed at them.

00:56:09.083 --> 00:56:16.751
I never went back,
and I never saw my mom again.

00:56:17.209 --> 00:56:21.351
(sighs)

00:56:21.375 --> 00:56:27.685
(piano music)

00:56:27.709 --> 00:56:33.268
[Tolou] Our family never
planned to leave Iran.

00:56:33.292 --> 00:56:36.894
I had this discussion
with my parents.

00:57:24.083 --> 00:57:25.727
[Tolou]
I've already made up my mind

00:57:25.751 --> 00:57:30.185
that I don't want to go
to prison for five years.

00:57:30.209 --> 00:57:31.935
[sobbing]

00:57:31.959 --> 00:57:35.393
[Tolou]
My plan was going to Turkey.

00:57:35.417 --> 00:57:38.685
I did not want
to go illegally,

00:57:38.709 --> 00:57:44.560
and I had my passport, but the
chance that I will get arrested

00:57:44.584 --> 00:57:45.685
in the airport was high.

00:58:01.042 --> 00:58:04.042
Flight 490 now has landed.

00:59:31.209 --> 00:59:33.685
[Tolou]
They check your passport.

00:59:33.709 --> 00:59:38.643
Most of the time they will put
your name as a person who are

00:59:38.667 --> 00:59:41.959
banned going out of the country.

00:59:45.000 --> 00:59:47.959


00:59:48.709 --> 00:59:51.709
[Tolou] My name was not there.

00:59:53.417 --> 00:59:55.667
So I left.

00:59:57.042 --> 01:00:03.351
I know that I made
up my mind to leave, but...

01:00:03.375 --> 01:00:09.602
I was really angry
because I did something

01:00:09.626 --> 01:00:10.685
that they want me to do.

01:00:10.709 --> 01:00:13.018
And because I'm
that stubborn girl,

01:00:13.042 --> 01:00:16.059
it was not the time
that I wanted to leave,

01:00:16.083 --> 01:00:22.018
especially that like my father
was a bit sick and we were not

01:00:22.042 --> 01:00:24.727
knowing like how it's going.

01:00:24.751 --> 01:00:31.268
And the last thing that he told
me in the airport that like,

01:00:31.292 --> 01:00:36.518
no matter what happens,
don't go back.

01:00:36.542 --> 01:00:37.185
Don't come back to Iran.

01:00:37.209 --> 01:00:43.185
And I told him that, well,
probably I will not able to if I

01:00:43.209 --> 01:00:45.643
can leave, I will not
be able to come back.

01:00:45.667 --> 01:00:51.351
But I understand that
he meant that if I died,

01:00:51.375 --> 01:00:53.185
you don't come back.

01:00:53.209 --> 01:00:55.894
And that happened.

01:00:55.918 --> 01:01:02.518
And yeah, I think it was
the hardest thing

01:01:02.542 --> 01:01:07.518
that happened that like,

01:01:07.542 --> 01:01:13.101
I think I was more like
feel bad that like my mother

01:01:13.125 --> 01:01:19.226
and my brother went through
things and I'm like outside.

01:01:19.250 --> 01:01:24.351
But yeah, I mean, but I know,
but at the same time,

01:01:24.375 --> 01:01:30.852
I know that like, as I told you,
they never told me what to do,

01:01:30.876 --> 01:01:36.185
my mom and dad, but I believe
that both of them were happy.

01:01:36.209 --> 01:01:40.351
When I said that I
decided to leave Iran,

01:01:40.375 --> 01:01:42.852
I think both of
them were happy.

01:01:42.876 --> 01:01:44.685
They never talked about it.

01:01:44.709 --> 01:01:46.768
[sniffles]

01:01:46.792 --> 01:01:53.518
They were happy that like,
I'm out and at least don't think

01:01:53.542 --> 01:02:01.083
about like what will
happen if I go to jail.

01:02:02.375 --> 01:02:08.643
Yeah, May 2014, that I left
Iran for the last time.

01:02:08.667 --> 01:02:10.250
Yeah.

01:02:14.334 --> 01:02:14.685
(Soft music)

01:02:14.709 --> 01:02:19.268
[Iqan] They gave me new
clothes, prisoners clothes.

01:02:19.292 --> 01:02:23.560
And they were beating me for,
I don't know, whatever.

01:02:23.584 --> 01:02:28.685
They asked me to sit on the
chair, answer some questions.

01:02:28.709 --> 01:02:31.768
And again, like they
were beating me.

01:02:31.792 --> 01:02:37.643
And that was the pattern
until the sunset that day.

01:02:37.667 --> 01:02:41.810
And so I could not
sleep that night.

01:02:41.834 --> 01:02:48.894
And until the day 16,
I couldn't call my family.

01:02:48.918 --> 01:02:55.167
So my, yeah.

01:02:56.209 --> 01:03:00.268
So even my family,
they didn't know where I am.

01:03:00.292 --> 01:03:02.894
The interrogators
standing next to me

01:03:02.918 --> 01:03:04.894
when I was calling my parents.

01:03:04.918 --> 01:03:08.310
And he told me,
don't tell them anything.

01:03:08.334 --> 01:03:11.727
I told them I'm fine,
everything is fine.

01:03:11.751 --> 01:03:18.101
And I just asked them if you
are still in care, Masha.

01:03:18.125 --> 01:03:20.226
And I think that was
the wisest question

01:03:20.250 --> 01:03:21.351
I could ever ask.

01:03:21.375 --> 01:03:23.852
And because I couldn't
tell them where I am.

01:03:23.876 --> 01:03:26.018
However, I didn't
know where I am.

01:03:26.042 --> 01:03:30.435
After 72 days, I was
released on bail.

01:03:30.459 --> 01:03:32.602
I was sentenced to five years.

01:03:32.626 --> 01:03:39.768
I asked for appeal,
but the verdict confirmed.

01:03:39.792 --> 01:03:43.101
So if I had left
Iran back then,

01:03:43.125 --> 01:03:45.518
I couldn't return
to Iran anymore.

01:03:45.542 --> 01:03:48.810
And I didn't want
that to happen.

01:03:48.834 --> 01:03:52.560
Because I loved my country,
and I still do.

01:03:52.584 --> 01:03:56.852
And I wanted to stay in Iran
and serve Iranian people

01:03:56.876 --> 01:03:57.393
and country.

01:03:57.417 --> 01:04:02.709
That was all the implications
of the decision to go to prison.

01:04:03.375 --> 01:04:10.310
And I went to prison from 2012
to 2017 for five years.

01:04:10.334 --> 01:04:15.375
It was 1800 days.

01:04:20.417 --> 01:04:23.018
[Dr. Mina Yazdani]
Something that the government

01:04:23.042 --> 01:04:25.518
had never thought about.

01:04:25.542 --> 01:04:28.727
Baha'i professors,
instructors,

01:04:28.751 --> 01:04:33.810
administrators of the BIHE
are in jail.

01:04:33.834 --> 01:04:36.018
Who else is in jail?

01:04:36.042 --> 01:04:40.518
Well, the intellectual assets
of the larger community.

01:04:40.542 --> 01:04:44.143
[Iqan] I was allocated to
the political board,

01:04:44.167 --> 01:04:47.351
section twelve
of the Gohar-Prison.

01:04:47.375 --> 01:04:52.685
So that section of prison was
known for political prisoners

01:04:52.709 --> 01:04:54.976
and prisoners of conscience.

01:04:55.000 --> 01:04:56.518
Many famous figures were there.

01:04:56.542 --> 01:04:59.727
Different political activists,
journalists, lawyers,

01:04:59.751 --> 01:05:02.852
high-ranked members of
different political parties.

01:05:02.876 --> 01:05:08.518
So suddenly I found myself in
a section of prison with many

01:05:08.542 --> 01:05:10.417
famous people.

01:05:11.209 --> 01:05:14.435
In both sides of the
corridors there were cells.

01:05:14.459 --> 01:05:17.685
16 cells on one side,
16 on the other.

01:05:17.709 --> 01:05:22.393
But we could see each other
and talk to the most famous

01:05:22.417 --> 01:05:23.894
journalists of Iran.

01:05:23.918 --> 01:05:28.976
To have deep, meaningful
conversations with them around

01:05:29.000 --> 01:05:32.268
many principles about
the future of Iran,

01:05:32.292 --> 01:05:35.852
about the rights of minorities,
about the persecutions that

01:05:35.876 --> 01:05:37.518
Baha'is have been through.

01:05:37.542 --> 01:05:39.727
Some of them were
political activists,

01:05:39.751 --> 01:05:43.101
but they didn't know about the
persecutions that the Baha'i

01:05:43.125 --> 01:05:44.518
community has been through.

01:05:44.542 --> 01:05:47.518
Some of them even couldn't
believe that Baha'is

01:05:47.542 --> 01:05:49.351
can't go to university.

01:05:49.375 --> 01:05:54.602
And it was a very
fruitful years, I can say,

01:05:54.626 --> 01:05:56.685
for all these famous people,

01:05:56.709 --> 01:06:00.059
for all these
political activists,

01:06:00.083 --> 01:06:01.185
for them to be with BIHE

01:06:01.209 --> 01:06:02.852
faculty members and
to hear about BIHE

01:06:02.876 --> 01:06:07.976
and why BIHE is created
and what it is responding to.

01:06:08.000 --> 01:06:12.018
[Dr. Mina Yazdani] And so,
a scholar, after his release,

01:06:12.042 --> 01:06:18.393
he writes a book on the BIHE,
because he finds it fascinating.

01:06:18.417 --> 01:06:24.894
He finds the reaction of a
persecuted community something

01:06:24.918 --> 01:06:28.334
to narrate for
the world to know.

01:06:31.250 --> 01:06:34.852
[Neda] I exactly remember where
in the house I was standing

01:06:34.876 --> 01:06:38.768
when I heard that
the raid happened

01:06:38.792 --> 01:06:40.518
when we heard the news.

01:06:40.542 --> 01:06:44.751
The blossoms were
at the full blown.

01:06:44.834 --> 01:06:49.059
I love blossoms and I went
pretty much through all the

01:06:49.083 --> 01:06:53.000
seven stages of grief at once.

01:06:53.792 --> 01:06:58.351
I started walking towards
the medical laboratory.

01:06:58.375 --> 01:07:01.435
Dr. Adirion was ahead
of a section of it.

01:07:01.459 --> 01:07:06.351
I went to go see him because his
name was not among the people

01:07:06.375 --> 01:07:08.334
who were arrested.

01:07:13.083 --> 01:07:15.226
He was like, "Ah, Neda!"

01:07:15.250 --> 01:07:17.727
and he smiled at me.

01:07:17.751 --> 01:07:19.018
I started crying.

01:07:19.042 --> 01:07:20.310
I was like, "This is it.

01:07:20.334 --> 01:07:24.101
This is, this is, that's,
that's the end of it.

01:07:24.125 --> 01:07:24.852
That's..."

01:07:24.876 --> 01:07:29.685
He was so calm, always
like softly, you know, spoken.

01:07:29.709 --> 01:07:32.185
He said, "Don't worry.

01:07:32.209 --> 01:07:33.518
Don't be silly.

01:07:33.542 --> 01:07:34.560
It's not going to be over.

01:07:34.584 --> 01:07:37.894
It's not even going to be more
difficult than building it.

01:07:37.918 --> 01:07:42.268
Because we made it the first
time, we all know what to do."

01:07:42.292 --> 01:07:44.560
And his eyes were still,
you know,

01:07:44.584 --> 01:07:48.393
very bright and full of hope.

01:07:48.417 --> 01:07:49.810
And he was right.

01:07:49.834 --> 01:07:51.685
He kept his promise.

01:07:51.709 --> 01:07:54.351
They made it even bigger.

01:07:54.375 --> 01:07:58.435
[Dr. Forouzan Golshani]
Any restriction set on BIHE

01:07:58.459 --> 01:08:04.894
is a loss for the Iranian
society at large.

01:08:07.167 --> 01:08:11.226
Any foreign university has to be
accredited by the government

01:08:11.250 --> 01:08:16.268
of that country before
accreditation agencies will even

01:08:16.292 --> 01:08:17.727
consider them.

01:08:17.751 --> 01:08:21.268
Well, not only Iranian
government does not endorse

01:08:21.292 --> 01:08:27.226
BIHE, it has done everything
in its power to stop it.

01:08:27.250 --> 01:08:32.143
And that is a dilemma for
BIHE at this point in time.

01:08:32.167 --> 01:08:37.334
How to break this barrier
for its graduates.

01:08:38.042 --> 01:08:42.310
The success of BIHE graduates
in various other universities

01:08:42.334 --> 01:08:48.768
around the world, that's a
testament to a very brave group

01:08:48.792 --> 01:08:53.018
of individuals by unsung heroes,

01:08:53.042 --> 01:08:56.185
people whose name
we will never know.

01:08:56.209 --> 01:08:58.602
And they have done something

01:08:58.626 --> 01:09:03.042
that the world has
to stop and watch.

01:09:04.209 --> 01:09:09.018
[Tolou] I've been living in
Canada for about 10 years now.

01:09:09.042 --> 01:09:13.834
Now I'm a post-doctoral
fellow at McGill University.

01:09:14.042 --> 01:09:17.935
[Shakib] When I was set free,
I applied for my PhD.

01:09:17.959 --> 01:09:20.310
A professor at
McGill helped me.

01:09:20.334 --> 01:09:23.059
I left Iran at the end of 2012.

01:09:23.083 --> 01:09:24.810
Right now, I'm a psychologist.

01:09:24.834 --> 01:09:26.852
I live in Montreal.

01:09:26.876 --> 01:09:29.727
[Niknaz] When I was
invited to go to the UN,

01:09:29.751 --> 01:09:35.101
it was the moment that I
realized I have to decide.

01:09:35.125 --> 01:09:38.894
That was the moment that
I thought, if I do that,

01:09:38.918 --> 01:09:44.935
then that means that I'm
losing my chance to go back.

01:09:44.959 --> 01:09:47.351
Maybe this is my
moment of sacrifice,

01:09:47.375 --> 01:09:52.209
that even though it hurts
almost every day...

01:09:57.042 --> 01:10:01.643
You know, I lost my nephew,

01:10:01.667 --> 01:10:08.101
and I couldn't go back to
Iran to be with my sister.

01:10:08.125 --> 01:10:11.351
I lost my grandma, and I
couldn't be there

01:10:11.375 --> 01:10:13.834
with my mom and dad.

01:10:15.459 --> 01:10:21.727
So I dream of Iran not
every night, but every week.

01:10:21.751 --> 01:10:23.518
I think about it.

01:10:23.542 --> 01:10:28.560
Hopefully at some point,
I will be able to go back.

01:10:28.584 --> 01:10:30.643
And that's like my
highest dream.

01:10:30.667 --> 01:10:33.685
You know, one day I fly,
I go there, and I stay,

01:10:33.709 --> 01:10:37.935
and I have all these ideas for
things I'm going to do there.

01:10:37.959 --> 01:10:40.959
So anyways, all these ideas.

01:10:46.375 --> 01:10:49.768
[Iqan] So I applied for some
universities in the UK.

01:10:49.792 --> 01:10:53.310
When I was applying for a visa,
the officer of Home Office

01:10:53.334 --> 01:10:56.351
called me, and he told me
that you've got all the

01:10:56.375 --> 01:10:59.602
qualifications of becoming
asylum in the UK.

01:10:59.626 --> 01:11:03.143
I had to prove him that I
want to go back to Iran.

01:11:03.167 --> 01:11:05.727
I went to prison because
I wanted to stay in Iran,

01:11:05.751 --> 01:11:09.226
and when I shared all this
information with the officer,

01:11:09.250 --> 01:11:10.518
he issued me the visa.

01:11:10.542 --> 01:11:14.185
And I started my master's in
social and political thought

01:11:14.209 --> 01:11:15.518
at the University of Sussex.

01:11:15.542 --> 01:11:19.143
I'm now a PhD candidate at
the University of Cambridge.

01:11:19.167 --> 01:11:22.268
I'm doing intellectual history,
and I have to submit

01:11:22.292 --> 01:11:25.209
my PhD dissertation very soon.

01:11:27.584 --> 01:11:29.185
[Neda] There was a happy ending.

01:11:29.209 --> 01:11:33.518
I received admission from the
University of Ottawa

01:11:33.542 --> 01:11:39.852
to continue my studies in
the field of microbiology,

01:11:39.876 --> 01:11:42.560
immunology, and biochemistry.

01:11:42.584 --> 01:11:46.476
I am a research scientist
at Health Canada.

01:11:46.500 --> 01:11:49.518
I'm the head of the
Food Virology Laboratory,

01:11:49.542 --> 01:11:53.059
and I'm also an adjunct
professor to the Faculty of

01:11:53.083 --> 01:11:55.185
Medicine, University of Ottawa.

01:11:55.209 --> 01:11:57.976
It was an opportunity
of a lifetime.

01:11:58.000 --> 01:12:04.226
[uplifting music builds]

01:12:37.542 --> 01:12:38.935
(laughs)

01:12:38.959 --> 01:12:43.101
Neda...
[speaking foreign language]

01:12:43.125 --> 01:12:45.518
-Good!
-Amazing.

01:12:49.209 --> 01:12:51.518
[Shakib] Iqan!

01:12:53.334 --> 01:12:57.685
-How are you.
-It's been a long time.

01:12:58.751 --> 01:13:02.226
Finally, after years,
he became a father.

01:13:08.042 --> 01:13:11.435
- So good to see you.

01:13:11.459 --> 01:13:17.226
[indistinct chatter]

01:13:55.542 --> 01:14:01.602
[film projector]

01:14:01.626 --> 01:14:03.018
[Niknaz] You know,
for a young person,

01:14:03.042 --> 01:14:07.018
you plan your entire future
based on your higher education.

01:14:07.042 --> 01:14:09.685
And when government
systematically takes it away

01:14:09.709 --> 01:14:13.101
from you, it means they are
taking away your future.

01:14:13.125 --> 01:14:14.935
It means you are
losing your future.

01:14:14.959 --> 01:14:17.059
But the beauty of BIHE,
I would say,

01:14:17.083 --> 01:14:21.185
is that the whole community
is working so hard,

01:14:21.209 --> 01:14:26.518
is really trying to
sustain this entity.

01:14:26.542 --> 01:14:31.185
All this persecution
and denials are still strongly

01:14:31.209 --> 01:14:31.894
in place.

01:14:31.918 --> 01:14:36.310
And I see the third generation
of Baha'is that are struggling

01:14:36.334 --> 01:14:41.518
are unfortunately facing
the same circumstance.

01:14:41.542 --> 01:14:46.685
And I would like to
conclude with this.

01:14:46.709 --> 01:14:51.810
As much as I am happy
and grateful for the opportunity

01:14:51.834 --> 01:14:56.518
that I have now to live
and work in the US.

01:14:56.542 --> 01:15:01.185
And advance professionally,
I would love,

01:15:01.209 --> 01:15:03.643
I would love to go back to Iran

01:15:03.667 --> 01:15:09.768
and work in Iran and contribute
to the welfare, economy,

01:15:09.792 --> 01:15:15.727
life and future
of my country, Iran.

01:15:15.751 --> 01:15:18.476
This is my highest desire.

01:15:18.500 --> 01:15:20.351
Thank you.