Nearly four months after Iranian government officials launched a series of raids and arrests in an attempt to close the Bahá'íInstitute of Higher Education, the Iranian Baha'i community has rededicated itself to providing educational opportunities for Bahá'í youth who have been denied access to higher education in Iran since the Islamic Revolution. The Baha'i Open University has resumed its activities for the new academic year, although its functioning is still hampered by the loss of equipment, especially computers, which it suffered during the raids.

Three of the 36 administrators and faculty members who were arrested in September and October 1998 remain in prison in Isfahan: Mr. Farzad Khajeh, Dr. Sina Hakiman and Mr. Habibullah Ferdosian. The arrested faculty members were pressured to sign a statement that they would no longer collaborate with the Baha'i University. All of them refused to sign because there is no law in Iran that forbids the teaching dentistry, accounting, and other academic subjects in private homes.