Camden Conference: Repression in Iran

In association with the 2026 Camden Conference, Today’s Middle East: Power, Politics & Players, please join PPL on February 12 from 5:30PM-7:00PM where we will get to hear from Parivash and Nasser Rohani. The Rohanis are advocates of female empowerment and followers of the Bahá’í faith, Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority. They will be discussing the history of the Iran – its political formations along with its dissidents – and how history intersects with modern day repression on the grounds of gender and faith. Parivash and Nasser will also provide poignant examples, including highlighting the 1983 execution of ten Bahá’í women for their beliefs and sharing how their stories continue to be commemorated through the #ourstoryisone art initiative. 

The talk will follow four main themes: 

1. The history of Iran in the past 200 years
2. The enduring repression of women across Iran’s modern history
3. The specific targeting of the Bahá’ís as scapegoats, and 
4. The vilification of Bahá’í women as symbols of equality and freedom  

In the Rohanis’ own words, “[t]ogether, these struggles reveal not only the suffering of marginalized groups but also the resilience of the Iranian people in their pursuit of justice and human dignity.”