Last Friday, in Ireland, more than 50 academics called upon the Iranian authorities to cease attacking Baha'is and allow access to higher education for all. "It is hard to believe that any government would deny the right to education to a group of students," they wrote to the Irish Times. "It is clear from these actions that the Iranian authorities are determined to block the progress and development of these young people by denying them an education solely on the basis of their religion."
In Germany, some 45 prominent professors also demanded the immediate release of the seven. In a letter dated 25 October to Iran's Minister for Science, Research and Technology, they wrote, "We insist upon the unrestricted observance of the right of higher education for all citizens of your country in accordance with international norms..."
Four days earlier, Markus Loning - Germany's Foreign Office Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid - said: "It is urgent and necessary for the Iranian government to end its discrimination against the Baha'is and to respect their basic rights to education and to practice their faith."
Last week, 26 filmmakers, producers and actors urged the government of Brazil to defend the rights of filmmakers, journalists and Baha'i educators and call upon Iran to immediately release them. Among the signatories to the open letter, reported in the prestigious Folha de Sao Paolo newspaper, were such acclaimed directors as Hector Babenco, Atom Egoyan, Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Walter Salles.
In a statement on 20 October, Brazilian Federal Representative Luiz Couto - former president of the country's Human Rights Commission - said, Why can't these people have the right to profess their faith?"
Support for the imprisoned educators has also come from Scholars at Risk (SIR), an international network of over 260 universities and colleges in 33 countries dedicated to promoting academic freedom, and freedom of thought, opinion, expression, association and travel.
"The facts suggest an attempt to exclude Baha'i individuals from higher education opportunities in Iran, and raise serious concerns about a wider campaign to limit the ability of intellectuals and scholars generally to work freely in Iran," SIR wrote on 31 October.
"Scholars at Risk finds these suggestions particularly distressing and unfortunate, given Iran's rich intellectual history and traditional support for the values of scholarship and free inqui
