Derry Baha'is' chairman Dr Nooshin Proudman said they were grateful Mark Durkan has acted promptly to put his name to an Early Day Motion at Westminster

"Baha'is have been persecuted in Iran since our faith was founded there in the nineteenth century," said Dr Proudman, "but it became much worse after the Islamic Revolution. Today Baha'is are accused of all manner of crimes but the truth is that it is blatant religious persecution."

She was speaking as several leaders of the Baha'i community in Iran marked the first anniversary of their arrest. They have been held for the past year in Teheran's notorious Evin Prison without access to their lawyer, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr Shirin Ebadi, and have only had occasional supervised visits from their families.

“Now they have been threatened with the charge "spreading corruption on earth" which can carry the death penalty.

“Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently raised his concerns with the Iranian Government,” said Dr Proudman.

"We are very grateful that our MP Mr Durkan has acted promptly to put his name to an Early Day Motion at Westminster. Documents released by the United Nations show that the

authorities there want to eradicate the Baha'i community as a viable entity in Iran. We are praying that our voices, joining with those of people of goodwill from all over the world, will put an end to this persecution.”