A/HRC/4/21/Add.1 page 45 persecution of, and discrimination against, members of the Bahá'í faith, in violation of international standards.” Response from the Government dated 28 March 2006 184. The third chapter of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is entitled “Rights of the people”, assures equal rights to all the people of Iran and equal protection in front of the law. There are many religions that have been recognized as “official religions” of the state. However, Bahá’ísm is not an official religion in Iran. The Government maintains that its authorities provide assistance to the Bahá’í followers to perform their religious 19-days-apart worship, that “they enjoy their normal social rights to a large extent”, and that they have their own cemeteries as well as schools based on their belief. 185. With respect to the press release dated 20 March 2006, the Government deeply regrets “that the Special Rapporteur has downgraded her mandate to that of an irresponsible NGO, stripped off the status of a highly respectful and accountable official of the United Nations. It would have been fairer and much reasonable for the Special Rapporteur if she had waited for a reply from the Iranian officials on the issue. That would have made her judgment more reliable. Illegal activities of some members of the Bahá’í community in Iran resulting in legal cases in the courts has motivated extremists Bahá’í associations in Iran to resort to unfounded, unsubstantiated and politically motivated allegations on the situation of the Bahá’í community in Iran. So called ‘highly classified’ letter is a clear manifestation of this approach.” Observations 186. The Special Rapporteur is grateful for the Government’s response. However, she firmly rejects the Government’s reproaches concerning her press release and the Special Rapporteur would have preferred to receive a more substantiated response concerning the concrete allegations in question. The Special Rapporteur carries out a close and detailed assessment of the information in order to ensure that the situations or cases that are transmitted to Governments have a very high level of reliability. Furthermore, she would like to ask the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for clarification of its statement quoted above that Bahá’í followers “enjoy their normal social rights to a large extent” (emphasis added). The Special Rapporteur would like to emphasize again that the fact that a religion is recognized as a state religion must not result in any discrimination against adherents to other religions. The Special Rapporteur calls on the Government of Iran to refrain from categorizing individuals according to their religion and to ensure that members of all religious minorities are free to hold and practise their religious beliefs, without discrimination or fear. Urgent appeal sent on 1 March 2006 jointly with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of judges and lawyers, the Independent Expert on Minority Issues, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture 187. The Special Rapporteurs received information regarding 173 members of the Nematollah Sufi Muslim community. They were arrested on 13 February 2006 due to their participation in a peaceful protest, which was reportedly violently suppressed by the security