Six members of the Scottish Interfaith Council representing the Sikh, Bahá'í, Hindu and Buddhist faiths, as well as the Church of Scotland and the Salvation Army, took part in the event at the Bahá'í Centre in Edinburgh's Albany Street. A former moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Dr Finlay MacDonald, also joined the vigil.
Additional messages of support were received from Cardinal Keith O'Brien, head of the Catholic Church in Scotland and Rabbi Nancy Morris, Scotland's first woman Rabbi.
During the gathering, each representative recited a prayer from his own tradition, many in their original languages. The Hindu representative also chanted for the Bahá'ís in Iran.
"There was a real sense of people's strength of feeling and solidarity with the Bahá'ís," said Mr Allan Forsyth, representative of the Bahá'í Council for Scotland.
A multi-media presentation began the day-long event, explaining the background to the current situation and the long history of persecution which members of the Bahá'í faith have experienced in Iran. The vigil then continued into afternoon and evening as other friends from Scottish faith communities joined the gathering.
"We are greatly encouraged by the heartfelt support shown by people of all faiths in Scotland for our fellow religionists in Iran who are being maltreated simply because of their beliefs," said Mr Forsyth. "It gives us confidence that the world community will no longer tolerate such blatant abuses of human rights."
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