Thames Valley Bahá’í Community

On 18 June 1983, under the cover of darkness, ten Baháʼí women were taken to a square in Shiraz, Iran. After enduring months of imprisonment and torture, they were executed without their families’ knowledge. One was only 17 years old; most were in their twenties.

Their only crime was their belief in a faith that champions principles such as gender equality, justice, and truthfulness. The women were hanged one by one, each forced to witness the execution of the next in a cruel attempt to compel them to renounce their faith. Not one of them yielded.

Yet their story did not end that night.

Their sacrifice became part of a much larger story: the ongoing struggle of Iranian women for equality, dignity, and justice. In the four decades that followed, hundreds of Baháʼí women continued to face persecution, targeted both for their faith and for their identity as women. Many were imprisoned, tortured, or executed. Those serving in positions of influence were dismissed from their jobs, arrested, or killed. Others were denied access to higher education, barred from public employment, and excluded from many aspects of social and civic life.

Today, in the courage, determination, and sacrifices of countless young women across Iran who continue to stand for equality, we see the enduring legacy of the Ten Women of Shiraz. Their spirit lives on in those who choose, despite immense personal cost, to uphold the principles of justice and equality. Like the women who came before them, many continue to endure persecution and hardship while working toward a more prosperous, inclusive, and just Iran.

As we commemorate the anniversary of the Ten Women of Shiraz, we also honor the countless women whose sacrifices have helped shape a better future for Iran. Their stories remind us that our struggles are interconnected, our hopes are shared, and that through solidarity and unity, we can continue the pursuit of justice and equality for all.

Work on the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is advancing steadily across the site, with several of its most intricate stages now simultaneously under way.

The marble cladding of the trellis and columns of the central edifice is being undertaken, with five columns completed and three still to follow. The folding walls along the central plaza are being fitted with local stone, while the curved interior walls of the central edifice, framed from components precisely cut and prepared years in advance, are assembled like a mosaic. The glass panels, the tallest standing at more than eleven meters, have been fabricated and delivered, and await installation by a specialist team in the period ahead.

Beyond the trellis and central edifice, the north and south plazas are progressing as well, with local stone now set into their planter and portal walls. The recent removal of the construction crane, itself an important milestone, has opened the way to complete the remaining structural work around the south plaza.

The approaches to and from the Shrine are taking shape with a path that begins at the Ashraf Gate—where future visitors will enter the site of the Shrine—conceived so that the Shrine reveals itself gradually and, at one point along the way, comes into view aligned with the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh; to the east of the site, a winding path invites reflection.

Throughout the grounds, the Bahá’í World Centre’s Gardens Department has continued with the landscaping work. The berms flanking the central edifice are now substantially covered with greenery, and the maturing landscape lends to the site a growing serenity.

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Source: BWNS