The Bahá'í Faith originated in Iran and is the country's largest non-Muslim religious minority, and it has no legal existence there. The 1979 constitution recognises Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians; Bahá'ís are omitted, which leaves them without standing to marry, inherit, bring suit or be recognised as a community. Since 1979 more than two hundred Bahá'ís have been executed or killed. The entire elected National Spiritual Assembly was abducted in August 1980 and never seen again; most of its replacement was executed in December 1981. A 1991 government memorandum, later obtained by the UN Special Rapporteur, set out a policy of blocking the community's progress and development, including expelling Bahá'í students from universities. The Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education, an underground university run in homes, has been raided repeatedly and its instructors imprisoned. Human Rights Watch published a report in April 2024 concluding that the treatment amounts to the crime against humanity of persecution. Documented persecutory acts rose sharply through 2024 and 2025, with a majority of those detained being women, and Bahá'í cemeteries have been confiscated and in some cases bulldozed.