Source: Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/4326702.html
As members of the Bahai Faith, Giti Bahar and Elham Abbassi were part of a persecuted minority in their native Iran.
It wasn't always that way.
The Bahais, whose faith does not allow them to become involved in politics, freely practiced their religion until the Shah was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic revolution.
"They closed the Bahai centers; well-known Bahais had their property confiscated, were put into jail, and some were killed," Bahar said. "They didn't accept our marriage certificate, and if someone died it was difficult to perform the ceremony because the Bahai cemetery was confiscated."
Neither could the two women attend college — a particular insult because education is an important principle of the Bahai faith.
Bahai youths have been denied access to higher education for more than 25 years, according to the U.N. Human Rights Commission. The current Iranian government regards Bahais as "unprotected infidels."