[AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION FROM PERSIAN]

19 October 2016

To the patient and sorely tried friends in the Cradle of the Faith

At a time when your spiritual brothers and sisters were joyfully making the necessary preparations for marking the inauguration of the Mother Temple of South America, we were deeply saddened by the news of the murder of Farhang Amírí in Yazd.  The assistance of local residents in the prompt arrest of one of the perpetrators, the preliminary actions of the police, and the willingness of a lawyer to pursue the case illustrate the fact that different sectors of society in that land deplore oppression and injustice and abhor this despicable act.  Encouraging signs may be discerned in the diligence of the responsible magistrate and in his promise to investigate this tragic event with a view to the equality of all citizens before the law.  Reports now clearly demonstrate that religious bigotry was the chief motive of this crime.  Open-minded Iranians, together with the international community, are now eager to see how justice will be carried out and wonder when the incitement and the prevailing atmosphere that make possible such heinous deeds will come to an end.

The family of Mr. Amírí has in the past endured many an injustice and with their very blood watered the tree of the Cause of God.  In the years following the Islamic Revolution, that precious soul himself, with utter contentment, bore numerous hardships for his association with Bahá’u’lláh’s Blessed Name.  He lived a modest and honourable life.  His conduct was motivated by his belief in the oneness of humanity and the elimination of prejudices of all kinds and by a desire to serve his homeland.  He was known among his neighbours for his kindness, gentleness, wisdom, and humility.  He earned his living with a spirit of detachment from the world and had no quarrel with anyone.  His family environment was marked by love and tenderness, and he encouraged his children to adorn their lives with the ornaments of honesty and trustworthiness.  And at the age of sixty-three, that pure soul, that radiant and magnanimous soul, offered up his life in absolute meekness, hoisted the ensign of martyrdom and attained his Beloved’s presence in the realms above, and in the Abhá Kingdom joined the company of the other martyrs of this Faith—among whom number his own noble father and six other relatives who, sixty-one years ago in Hurmuzak, near Yazd, sacrificed their lives in the path of the Blessed Beauty.

We extend our heartfelt greetings and sincere condolences to his beloved wife, his cherished children, his esteemed mother, and his other relatives and supplicate in the Holy Shrines for the progress of his luminous soul and for the solace of all the members of that devoted and respected family.

[signed:  The Universal House of Justice]