John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 287: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps the Government have taken to lessen the religious persecution been suffered by the Bahá'í community in Iran; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16536/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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As I explained to the House in reply to questions on 25 and 27 April 2006, I am fully aware of the difficulties facing the Bahá'í community in Iran. The statement made on 20 March by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Asma Jahangir, is the latest in a series of reports which raise serious concerns about this matter.

My Department maintains close contacts with the Bahá'í community in Ireland about the situation of their co-religionists on the ground. In its contacts with the Iranian Embassy in Dublin the Department regularly conveys the Government's concerns.

Ireland has also frequently raised the situation of the Bahá'í in Iran at EU level and the EU's concerns about the treatment of the Bahá'í have in turn been brought to the attention of the Iranian authorities on many occasions. Ireland and its EU partners have also supported resolutions on Iran at the UN General Assembly and at the UN Commission on Human Rights. These initiatives have brought specific attention to the plight of the Bahá'í in Iran.

The situation of the Bahá'í community has also been raised during the formal EU-Iran Human Rights Dialogues, the last session of which took place during the Irish Presidency of the EU in 2004. Iran has been reluctant to agree dates for a renewed session of the Human Rights Dialogue and the Dialogue has been in abeyance since that time, though consultations on the next session are ongoing.

The External Relations Council on 10 April 2006 issued Conclusions on Iran which underlined the EU's continuing concern about human rights in Iran, in particular the treatment of the Bahá'í and other religious minorities. In addition, the EU Presidency raised a number of human rights concerns directly with the Iranian Government on 11 April 2006, including the problems alluded to in the Special Rapporteur's statement.

Ireland and the EU will remain actively engaged on this issue and will continue to raise it in all appropriate fora.