 The Iranian government claims that the Bahá 'í Faith is not a religion , but is instead a political organization , and hence refuses to recognize it as a minority religion . However , the government has never produced convincing evidence supporting its characterization of the Bahá 'í community . Also , the government 's statements that Bahá 'ís who recanted their religion would have their rights restored , attest to the fact that Bahá 'ís are persecuted solely for their religious affiliation . The Iranian government also accuses the Bahá 'í Faith of being associated with Zionism because the Bahá 'í World Centre is located in Haifa , Israel . These accusations against the Bahá 'ís have no basis in historical fact , and the accusations are used by the Iranian government to use the Bahá 'ís as " scapegoats " . In fact it was the Iranian leader Naser al @-@ Din Shah Qajar who banished Bahá 'u'lláh from Persia to the Ottoman Empire and Bahá 'u'lláh was later exiled by the Ottoman Sultan , at the behest of the Persian Shah , to territories further away from Iran and finally to Acre in Syria , which only a century later was incorporated into the state of Israel . 
