From Threats to Exile: Nima’s Story of Faith Under Persecution

The Divine Just State magazine recently published the accounts of several believers with Iranian origins in which they detail their ordeals firsthand. This endeavour will continue in order to document the experiences suffered by all innocent victims of oppression due to their choice to believe in the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light wherever they may be. The latest report received is from Nima, a millennial born in Iran who chose to believe in the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light. This choice seems to justify his torment under the oppressive regime of the so-called Islamic Republic of Iran. Here is his story in his own words.

“My name is Nima Esfandiari. I was born on February 28, 2005. I took my oath of allegiance in the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light in 2020 in Iran. I was threatened with arrest by various authorities such as the Basij and the Ministry of Intelligence. They repeatedly targeted me on Telegram and other social media platforms, where I was peacefully inviting people and promoting the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light. They sent me threatening messages many times.

“Misguided ones, may God have mercy on you. I am just waiting for the day when the Ministry of Intelligence and Security arrests you—then it will be something to see".

I had a friend in Iran named Arman and after I told him about my religion and explained it, he believed. He was even among the 15 people who were arrested by the Iranian government because of their beliefs. After Arman’s brother realized that I had facilitated for Arman to believe in this religion (Arman’s brother is a member of Iran’s Basij), he chased me with a knife in a narrow alley and threatened me with it so that I would no longer approach Arman and so that I would not promote my religion in that area. Many times in Iran, when I was going to work, I noticed cars with green license plates - which usually belong to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence - following me. At the same time, when I was peacefully promoting my religion on Telegram, I received messages from various anonymous usernames telling me to be careful and not cause trouble for myself.

“Watch out your phone number is showing, be careful.” I reply “Yes everyone can see my number”; he then replies “People can cause you problems”.

Even after this incident, my friend who was also a believer in this religion, named Mohammad Amin Nouri (who passed away due to pressures from the Iranian and Turkish governments), was threatened during the same period by motorcycles that were clearly affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) because the license plates were green. They also him their Revolutionary Guards card, forcibly took his phone, and told him to warn my other friend Nima that they were watching him; if he did not stop promoting this religion, he would face serious consequences and that they were also after him. 

Left: Nima Esfandiari, right: Mohammad Amin

After I realized that my life was in danger in Iran because of my religion, I was forced to leave Iran on December 2, 2022, aged 18, so I went to Istanbul, Turkey. After seeing my fellow believers who were also forced to flee Iran, I decided to leave Turkey as well, because Turkey was not safe for me either, and it never had been. We repeatedly received threatening messages from Iranian authorities and intelligence saying, “We are after you, and don’t think you are safe in Turkey.” So we decided on May 24, 2023, to go to the official and legal border between Turkey and Bulgaria and apply for asylum in a safe country. More than 27 human rights organizations were informed, and everything was proceeding legally. 

However, when we, 104 people, approached the legal border, the Turkish police and gendarmerie started beating us with batons and fired warning shots into the air. They forcibly put all of us on buses and transferred us to the deportation camp in Edirne. 

Below are images of me among the 104 people at the Turkey-Bulgaria border and the police standing in front of us:

Nima amongst the 104

For the first three days, they kept us in a place where we slept on the floor, and the only food they gave us was soup at noon; and juice and cake in the evenings. 

After they realized that we had hired a lawyer and human rights organizations began putting pressure on them, they moved us to a place behind closed doors after three days, but it had beds and basic facilities. However, we were allowed only one to two hours of outdoor time per day, and then we were locked behind closed doors like criminals with limited hygiene supplies. I was imprisoned in the Edirne and Gaziantep deportation camps from May 24, 2023, to October 10, 2023. 

After the United Nations warned Turkey to stop the deportation of the 104 members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, and the lawyer pressured the relevant court while human rights organizations continued to apply pressure, finally on October 10, 2023, my deportation order was canceled, and I was released—but without any identification documents and without any support. 

Later, in order to legalize my stay in Turkey, I went to the Edirne Immigration Office and applied for a temporary asylum residence permit (Kimlik). Later, they told me I had to go from this city to the city of Müş in Turkey. 

While we were in Edirne fellow believers and friends were supporting me with housing and food.  But they separated us in low-tier cities in Turkey, cities with very limited work opportunities and poor facilities close to Iran. In the city of Müş, due to its small size and lack of jobs, I could not find any work, and the few jobs I did find were temporary and soon ended. 

Nima with fellow members in Edirne before being forcefully separated

I have been covering my expenses, including rent and food, with support from my family in Iran and humanitarian aid from my religious organization, the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light. Even now, due to the lack of work and insufficient money in this city, I have repeatedly been at risk of malnutrition and losing my place to live. They transferred me to a city like Müş in Turkey, which is not only close to Iran but also small, lacks facilities, and has very limited work opportunities. I have repeatedly asked the Müş Immigration Office to transfer me to a city where several other members of my religion live because here I have no work, no money, and I’m at risk of malnutrition. 

Here, I have also been threatened multiple times, even in the markets where I worked for a month, being called an infidel. I cannot speak of my religion here either, because the local Muslims are very intolerant. The Müş Immigration Office refused my transfer request, saying it is entirely out of their hands and they cannot send me to another city. 

These are some of the persecutions and harassment I have faced in Iran and Turkey solely because of my beliefs and faith.”

This is yet another account of abuse at the hands of authorities in both Iran and Turkey on a level which cannot legally be accepted by international bodies like the United Nations. As can be seen first hand here, the persecution of believers in this faith continues in ways which are generally undetectable within the countries themselves by the international bodies which have the mandate to monitor these conditions. The most basic human rights are not being afforded to believers, like Nima, solely on the basis of their choice to believe in a faith which is formally recognised and accepted as being an illegitimate faith by the respective governments of these countries. 

This example set by more influential Muslim majority countries is setting a precedent for less influential countries to follow suit. We have seen a major clamp down in Malaysia on any and all activities of members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light resulting in various arrests and, most recently and notably, the incarceration of two believers for a period of nine months for no apparent reason other than their choice to believe in this faith. 

We at the Divine Just State magazine beseech the international community to take action and condemn the actions of such belligerent governments which pay no attention to their responsibilities and obligations under international law to apply basic human rights to all under their governance regardless of their choice in faith. The situation of believers targeted by these governments is increasingly desperate and cannot continue unabated.