The U.S. Department of State has issued the following statement about the recent arrests:

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom today called for strong international condemnation of the arrest of Baha’i leaders in Iran.

On May 14, Iranian intelligence officials arrested six Baha’i leaders and took them to the notorious Evin prison. The imprisonments are ominously similar to episodes in the 1980s when scores of Iranian Baha’i leaders were summarily rounded up and subsequently executed.

April being Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the "Women, Faith and Abuse" segment of the April 3 Interfaith Voices radio program includes Layli Miller-Muro telling how the Baha'i Faith inspired her to establish the Tahirih Justice Center. The organization, based in Falls Church, Va., provides legal support for women and girls who have experienced sexual abuse and violence.

The Baha'i-inspired Tahirih Justice Center, known for its human rights work, has received recognition of another kind: The 10-year-old organization recently was given the 2007 Washington Post Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management.

In a letter to Nabil Fahmy, Egypt's ambassador to the United States, U.S. representatives Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) express disappointment at a recent decision by the Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court to deny Baha'is the right to document their religion on official documents.