( CNN ) -- Iranian media outlets have `` systematically stirred up '' widespread contempt toward the country 's 300,000-strong Baha ' i religious minority , the group says . The Baha ' i International Community issued a report Friday entitled `` Inciting Hatred : Iran 's media campaign to demonize Baha'is . '' The report `` documents and analyzes more than 400 media items over a 16-month period . '' The result , the Baha'is say , is an `` insidious state-sponsored effort '' to discredit the Baha'is with `` false accusations , inflammatory terminology , and repugnant imagery . '' Iranians officials at the United Nations and in Tehran could not be reached for comment . Among `` recurring themes '' in media coverage about Baha'is , the report said , is that they are `` anti-Islamic , '' a `` deviant '' and `` cult-like '' sect , agents of Zionism , spies for Israel and the West , morally corrupt and an influence in the shah 's government , toppled in 1979 . New themes have emerged in recent months , the report says . The report says the Baha'is have instigated opposition to the regime , influenced `` anti-regime '' Iranian human rights activists , including Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi , controls or influences foreign broadcasters , such as the BBC and Voice of America , and helped plan and participated in the 2009 Ashura protests against the presidential elections earlier that year . The group also said the media `` uses brainwashing to entice Muslims away from their faith , '' and `` security attractive young women to lure converts . '' `` This anti-Baha ' i propaganda is shocking in its volume and vehemence , its scope and sophistication , '' said Bani Dugal , Principal Representative of the Baha ' i International Community to the United Nations . `` It 's all cynically calculated to stir up antagonism against a peaceful religious community whose members are striving to contribute to the well-being of their society , '' she said . `` The parallels between the campaign of anti-Baha ' i propaganda in Iran today and other state-sponsored , anti-religious campaigns of the past are undeniable . History shows us that such campaigns are among the foremost predictors of actual violence against religious minorities -or , in the worst case , precursors of genocide . '' The Baha ' i faith , founded during the 19th century in Iran and now with 5 million to 6 million adherents worldwide , is a monotheistic religion that focuses on the spiritual unity of humanity . But Iran 's Shiite Muslim ruling ayatollahs regard the faith as blasphemous because its founder , Bahaullah , declared himself to be a prophet of God . Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed was the last prophet of God . The group said the anti-Baha ' i messages are `` originates with and are sanctioned by the country 's highest levels of leadership , including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei . '' Iran , however , claims that international media are an arm of a Baha ' i conspiracy . Those claims are `` both ludicrous and funny , if it was n't so sad , '' said Mohamed Abdel Dayem , the program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists ' Middle East and North Africa program . `` Any international media outlet that carries news that is not identical to the Iranian government 's line is accused of being an agent of fill in the blank : The Baha'is , the Americans , the Mossad . '' The U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom -- an independent , bipartisan federal agency -- regularly documents the Iranian regime 's actions toward the Baha'is . A USCIRF official said the Iranian government 's media campaign to denigrate and vilify the Baha ' i community is part of its long-standing policy to not only incite violence against Baha'is but also to seek a slow death of the community 's very existence in the country . `` The longer you wear down a community by demonizing them , intimidating them , depriving them , and arresting and imprisoning them - the hope is that you achieve your goal of total eradication , '' said Dwight Bashir , deputy director for policy and research at USCIRF . The Baha ' i report cities more than 200 `` specious and misleading articles '' by the semi-official Kayhan newspaper . USCIRF also singles out Kayhan . `` Among those responsible for this media initiative has been Hossein Shariatmadari , managing editor of the government-controlled Kayhan newspaper , who was appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei himself , '' Bashir said . `` Kayhan 's articles about the Baha ' i community have been a combination of vitriol and falsified information that has served to justify many of the egregious actions taken by the government against members of the community . As a consequence , USCIRF has urged the U.S. government to add Shariatmadari to its sanctions list of Iranian officials responsible for severe violations of human rights , including religious freedom , '' said Bashir . Faraz Sanei , Iran researcher with the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch , said rights groups have long documented the government 's `` systematic campaign , both in law and practice , to target Baha'is and `` deprive them of of their ability to freely manifest the beliefs and teachings of their faith . '' Sanei said the `` report provides valuable insight into the mechanics of a less documented and more insidious element of this campaign - anti-Baha ' i propaganda propagated by official and semi-official media outlets , and the degree to which hate speech further exposes an already vulnerable minority group to discrimination and attacks by private actors . ''
The Baha'is say Iranian media are demonizing them . Religious activists underscore the government 's contentions . Iran 's rulers say the Baha ' i faith is blasphemous .