Sunnis make up only about seven percent of Iran’s population and have no role in the Shi’ite government. Still, this is a significant step, as more and more people in Iran are willing to criticize the government openly and express solidarity with the protesters.
“Iranian Sunni Clerics Release Video Urging End To Deadly Crackdown On Protesters,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, November 30, 2022:
Sunni clerics of the southern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchistan have released a video calling on authorities of the Islamic republic to stop a deadly crackdown on protests that has “no justificiation [sic].”
The video, released on November 29, shows the signatories of the statement together in a mosque.
According to the statement, the Sunni clerics of the southeastern Iranian cities of Khash, Taftan, and Mirjaveh were united in their stance with regional elders and cultural figures in condemning the repression of “Bloody Friday” in Zahedan and Khash as a sign of “national solidarity.”
During the Bloody Friday massacre in the southeastern city of Zahedan on September 30, almost 100 people were killed and hundreds injured by security forces during protests sparked by the death of a 22-year-old woman while in custody of the morality police and the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl by a local police commander.
At least 96 protesters were reportedly killed in the violence, with more than 300 others injured.
The Sunni clerics announced in their statement that “the killing of people in Zahedan and Khash, and in our beloved Kurdistan, and in other parts of Iran, has no justification and is completely condemned.”
Earlier this month, top Iranian Sunni cleric Molavi Abdulhamid, who is regarded as a spiritual leader for Iran’s Sunni Muslim population, said senior officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were “responsible” for the killing of protesters in Zahedan and called for an immediate referendum with the presence of international observers to “change policies based on the wishes of the people.”…
The activist HRANA news agency said that as of November 23 at least 445 protesters had been killed during the unrest, including 61 minors, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Sorry, if there is one group in Iran that deserves to be persecuted, it’s sunni. No prizes for guessing what Iran would have been like had they been in power. Just another Saudi Arabia or Pakistan
So while I support everyone in Iran who wants to overthrow this regime, sunnis are the exception
gravenimage says
Islamic Republic of Iran: Sunni clerics condemn government crackdown, say it has ‘no justification’
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Of course, this doesn’t mean that pious Sunni Muslims are any more enlightened about women’s rights than are Shia (just look at the Taliban and Islamic State)–they are just also oppressed In Iran, and want to be in charge.