By RYAN CHRISTNER

rchristner@dailynews.net

Sina Sabeti was just a young child when he got his first taste of religious intolerance.

Growing up in Tehran, Iran, Sabeti experienced first-hand the well-documented persecution of members of the Baha'i faith.

"In school, other students start teasing us," Sabeti said during an interview last week in Hays. "The teacher had no honest behavior (toward) us.

"Twelve years of my life was in school, and (there was) always this problem."

His story is not unlike that of the approximately 300,000 other Iranian followers of Baha'i, a monotheistic religion that teaches all of humanity is part of a single, global community and all religious systems are part of a continually evolving plan that is slowly being unfolded by God, with an ultimate goal of world peace.

Sabeti, now 20, lives in Wichita with his mother and older brother after escaping one year ago from the tumultuous Middle East.

"The reason I came here, (why) I left Iran, was (because) I had no job," Sabeti said. "I couldn't have an education. Life was not safe for me and my family because of being Baha'i."

Iran has a history of being targeted by human rights organizations for its treatment of women, homosexuals and religious minorities.

Bills even have been introduced in Congress -- co-sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Sam Brownback and in the House by Rep. Jerry Moran -- "condemning the government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution of the Baha'i minority in Iran and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights."

Baha'i history dates to the mid-1800s, but the recent governmental restriction on the religion began 30 years ago when a political coup established Iran as an Islamic Republic.

The religion's official Web site, www.bahai.org, states that more than 200 Baha'is have been executed or killed since the 1979 revolution, and hundreds of others have been imprisoned, typically on false charges.

The Islamic regime in power in Iran views Baha'is as heretics, said Marilyn Ray, a member of the Baha'is of Hays, who met Sabeti earlier this month and invited him to her home as a guest to meet other local followers.

"They want to wipe it off the face of the earth," she said.

Muslim clerics "could see (the Baha'i faith) as threatening to their power," she added. "They feel they have the answers to the truth and nobody else can say anything else about God."

Although some restrictions on its members have been lifted throughout the years, Baha'is continue to be closely monitored by government officials. They are not allowed to attend Iranian universities, are not permitted licenses to start businesses and their marriages are not recognized.

"It gets worse and worse and worse," Sabeti said.

For he and his family, the decision to leave Iran was made about two years ago.

At the time, he, his mother and his older brother were living in Qaemshahr, northeast of Tehran by the Caspian Sea.

Sabeti had recently completed his secondary education and was preparing to turn 18, the age he would be required by law to join the military. That proposition was not attractive, however, as Baha'i teachings ask followers to refrain from involvement in war.

Unfortunately, without enlisting, Sabeti could not obtain the proper documentation needed to leave the country by normal means.

"Because I've not been ... in the army," he said, "I had no passport and I had to leave Iran illegally, like escape."

He was the only one.

His mother and brother had already procured passports and, thus, were able to leave by train to Turkey.

And so, alone on the Turkish-Iranian border, Sabeti waited until the dark of midnight had provided sufficient cover for his unlawful journey.

The border, he said, is home to many smugglers who have established secret trade routes through the mountainous terrain. It was from one of these smugglers that Sabeti obtained a horse and traveled one of the smuggler roads into Turkey.

The road he took was similar to a traditional road for vehicles, he said, with individual lanes carved staggeringly into the mountainside, some horses coming back into Iran and others, like his, heading out of the country. Some horses even changed lanes throughout the trip to get around slower animals.

"It was so fun," Sabeti said with a hearty laugh.

The trip to the border only took a couple hours, he said, but might have gone faster had he ever ridden a horse before. Luckily, smugglers keep the Iranian border guards well bribed to allow passage between the two countries.

Once in Turkey, Sabeti headed for Van, the first city west of the border, where he applied for refugee status through a United Nations office.

He remained in Van for three months before being allowed to visit his family, who had traveled to Kayseri in central Turkey.

Eight months later, Sabeti, his mother and his brother were finally given permission to leave Turkey for the United States.

With his new temporary residency, Sabeti has been able to enjoy the freedoms he did not have in Iran. He is attending Butler Community College -- studying English and math -- and is no longer afraid to practice his Baha'i faith.

"Ninety-nine percent of American people are very kind and very peaceful with us," Sabeti said. "I love America because of this culture, because of these people, because of this chance that America give me to educate (myself).

"Right now, I see the way is open for me. I can make an effort to become what I want."

Sabeti is nearing the one-year anniversary of his immigration to America, when he'll be able to apply for a green card. After another four years, he will be eligible to apply for citizenship.

When that happens, Sabeti said he wants to return to Iran to help the Baha'is still living there.

"That's why I left my job and I'm focusing on studying, to go faster," he said. "It is my task. I have to, because we are all members of a huge family and nobody can forget his or her sister or brother. I have to help them."