(CNN) -- Six Baha'i leaders in Iran were seized and imprisoned this week, the religious group said. The act prompted condemnation and concern from the movement and a top American religious freedom panel. A U.S. panel says attacks on Iran's Baha'is have increased since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president. Iranian intelligence agents searched the homes of the six on Wednesday and then whisked them away, according to the Baha'i's World News Service. The report said the six are in Evin prison and that the arrests follow the detention in March of another Baha'i leader. The Iranian Foreign Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment, and the incident has not been mentioned in Iran's state-run media.
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Six Baha'i leaders arrested in raids on their homes, Baha'i news service says
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"Their only crime is practice of their faith," says Baha'i representative to U.N.
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No comment from Iranian government; arrests not reported in Iran's state-run media
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U.S. government panel calls arrests a sign of vanishing religious freedom in Iran
The @placeholder say they have 5 million members across the globe, and about 300,000 in Iran.