A prominent Sunni cleric has been arrested in southeastern Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, the provincial judiciary office said in a statement.
Maulvi Fathi Mohammad Naqshbandi is the Friday prayer leader in Raask town of the Sunni-majority province that borders Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In a statement, the judiciary office in Sistan-Baluchestan said Naqshbandi has in recent months adopted “extreme positions and aligned himself with the opponents of the Islamic system.”
The press release accused him of “inciting street riots” through his sermons, adding that he was given “necessary warnings” but “insisted on his wrong positions.”
The charges against him include “disturbing public opinion through false speeches, slandering the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, acting against national security, and illegal occupation of land.”
Naqshbandi as well as Zahedan Friday prayer leader Moulavi Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi have frequently made anti-government speeches in recent months, especially since protests and violence last year.
Last October, Amnesty International accused Iranian security forces of unlawfully killing at least 66 people, including children, and injuring hundreds of others outside a Sunni mosque in south-east Iran.
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The human rights organisation said security forces fired live ammunition, metal pellets and teargas at protesters, bystanders and worshippers during a violent crackdown after Friday prayers on September 30 in Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchistan province.
Another 16 people were killed in separate incidents in Zahedan in a clampdown on protests, Amnesty said.
On October 1, 2022, Mawlana Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi, the Sunni leader of Friday prayers in Zahedan, recounted the crackdown in a video testimony. He stated that more than 40 people were killed after security forces standing on rooftops fired live ammunition towards a group of young protesters outside the police station as well as directly into the Mosalla towards men and women performing prayers.
On the other hand, the Iranian authorities said that 19 people, including bystanders and several members of the security forces, were killed during the protests in Zahedan.
They blamed the deaths on “terrorists,” “rioters” and “separatists” whom they claim were acting for foreign governments.
The province has also witnessed several fatal attacks on security forces in recent months, which Iranian officials have blamed on local militant groups.
Iran’s population is predominantly Shia Muslim, with estimates suggesting that around 90-95% of Iranians adhere to Shia Islam. The remaining portion of the population consists of various religious and ethnic minorities, including Sunni Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Baha’is, and others.
The exact percentage of Sunnis in Iran is not widely agreed upon and can vary in estimates. Generally, they are concentrated in provinces bordering other countries with large Sunni populations, like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.
SOURCE: AA and 5PILLARS
