Bahá’í opposition to Shi‘ism and the Shi‘i clergy.

A final reason for anti-Bahá’í attitudes, although rarely stated, must be Bahá’í opposition to Shi‘ism and the Shi‘i clergy. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi were often scathing on these subjects, calling the Shi‘is “the most wretched of sects” [Ma’ida-yi Asmani (Tehran, 1971-3) vol. 7, p. 182.] and its leaders “false, cruel and cowardly,” [Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day Is Come (Wilmette, 1939) pp. 93-98] hardly attitudes likely to endear the Bahá’ís to the religious establishment. Even if such harsh assessments may have been modified in the more tolerant paths the Bahá’ís have more recently trod they will not have been forgotten by the clergy, even if not publicly expressed.

(Bahá’í News, December 1982, Bahá’í Year 139, ‘The Bahá’ís of Iran’: A special report)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_News/Issue_621/Text