Although Iran is far away geographically, what happens there is having a direct impact on some citizens of the White Salmon community.
Members of White Salmon's Baha'i religious community -- including one who fled Iran -- are concerned about escalating persecution of Baha'i members.
"Baha'i members in Iran have been persecuted since the 1978 revolution," explained Soroush Kermani, a White Salmon resident who left the Middle Eastern nation in 1984. "Their property has been confiscated and they have no rights. It's starting to get worse. Their crime is trying to promote unity between all people and races of the world."
Bahaism is a faith that originated in Iran in 1844. The religion stresses principles of universal brotherhood and social equality.
Those tenets appear to threaten Iran's Islamic leaders, however, and government officials there have been taking a hard line against Baha'i members.
"People should know about this in the community," said Chelan Weiler, a White Salmon resident and a member of the Baha'is.
Weiler estimated that there are currently about 60 Baha'i members in mid-Columbia Gorge region. In the White Salmon area, nine leaders of a Baha'i spiritual assembly meet in homes around the community.
"The greatest help we can receive is for Congress to know these things," Weiler explained. "They can put pressure on the United Nations to allow Baha'is to have some rights."
"A new wave of persecution has started for sure," said Kermani. "Islamic leaders are afraid to lose their power. The Baha'i faith has a lot of influence with the people of Iran. About 300,000 Baha'i members in Iran who have been Muslim at one point in their lives have been transformed."
Kermani, who has lived in White Salmon since 1991, is the owner of U.S. Auto Care, a body shop in White Salmon. He was just 20 when he tried to leave Iran.
"After I graduated from high school, I could not go to the university because of my faith. I was taken to prison and asked questions about my faith," Kermani explained. "When I was leaving -- I should say, `escaped' -- I was caught on the border of Iran and Pakistan. I was imprisoned by the Revolutionary Guard, who are always guarding the roads to make sure no one goes against the revolution. Because I was Baha'i, they held me for four days. They found out I had no active role in the community, so they let me go. If I was active -- that's it. Ninety percent of the leaders they arrest are killed."
News agencies indicate that since 1979, more than 200 members of the Baha'i faith have been killed in Iran.
In mid-May of this year, six of the top Baha'i leaders in Iran were arrested by government intelligence agents and taken to prison.
Kermani said he still has relatives in Iran who are members of the Baha'i faith, and is hoping to help them get out.
"My brother, his wife, and their three children live in Esfahan, Iran," he said. "On the streets, they are putting up signs that say the Baha'i have to leave. Things are getting pretty bad. My brother's mother-in-law is ill, but hopefully they will be able to get out within six months."
Kermani pointed out that since the election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in August 2005, repression of the Baha'i members has gotten much worse.
"Documents smuggled out of Iran -- government documents -- are talking about a complete eradication of Baha'i members in Iran," Kermani said. "Government workers have lost their jobs. University students are being expelled. The Baha'is are not allowed to have any organization. Baha'i members are completely prohibited. The Islamic government is doing all it can to annihilate the Baha'i religion. It's very sad."
"There are efforts to bring the Baha'i members out of Iran," Weiler said. "The International House of Justice is financing refugees, paying for air fare to get them out. This is a problem primarily in Iran, but in Egypt too the Baha'i members are losing social rights."
Kermani said he believes cooperation is the answer to most of the world's problems.
"The power of unity is what we need," he said. "That is the Baha'is main focus -- to learn to work together. To achieve peace, we have to have unity."
Weiler added that spreading awareness about the plight of the Baha'is in Iran could help end the repression.
"What people in this community can do is be aware that the cause Baha'i members are giving their lives for in Iran is unity and fellowship among people," Weiler explained. "Hopefully, it's not in vain."
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