Iranian Baha'i poet Mahvash Sabet’s compelling prison memoir

Available for over a year

The written accounts of life inside Iran's prison system have given the outside world an often shocking insight into the way the regime deals with its opponents and those it perceives as its opponents. Mahvash Sabet sits in the latter category: she's an acclaimed poet and writer and a prominent member of Iran's Baha'i Faith -- a religion that emerged in the 19th century in Persia only to be persecuted repeatedly by a succession of Iranian regimes ever since. And the Islamic Republic is no exception: the Baha'is are Iran's largest religious minority numbering more than three hundred thousand but they're regarded now essentially as heretics. Mahvash Sabet has spent most of the last fifteen years in prison and now her account of that time is being published in English. It's called Open Wide the Doors and it's been translated by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani, who's also a Baha'i -- she spoke to Newshour's James Menendez, who first asked her to explain why the Baha'is are persecuted in Iran. (Photo: Mahvash Sabet. Credit: Baha'i International Community)