Houthi rebels arrest Baha’i spokesman in purge

The spokesman for the beleaguered Baha’i community in Yemen has been arrested as part of the Houthi rebels’ latest crackdown on the religious minority. The Baha’i faith is a small monotheistic religion which began in Persia in the 1800s and now faces widespread persecution by Iran and its allies across the Middle East.The Houthi rebels, who control Yemen’s capital Sana’a and are backed by Iran, have arrested dozens of Baha’i since 2016 and sentenced several of them to death. Abdullah al-Olofi was on his way to marketwhen he was arrested.