ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities have stepped up detaining Sunni clerics in the Kurdish areas following a strongly worded video statement by dozens of influential religious scholars labeling the execution of anti-government protesters as “un-Islamic” and calling on the authorities to end the “illegal” detention of thousands of peaceful protesters.
The Sunni clerical establishment, mostly present in the Kurdish, Balochi, and Turkmen areas of Iran, has overwhelmingly supported the protest movement sparked by Zhina (Mahsa) Amini’s death in mid-September.
Despite the seemingly audacious moves by the Sunni clerics in supporting the protests, authorities had until recently refrained from cracking down on them, while proceeding with violent arrests of over 20,000 protesters.
The situation took a turn on Monday when security forces detained two clerics (known as mala in Kurdish) in Piranshahr, northwestern Iran. Mala Mohammad Jamaladin Wazhi and Mala Sharif Mahmoudpour were detained in the village of Pasveh and were taken to an undisclosed detention facility.
Wazhi is the son of a Kurdish Sunni religious scholar, Sayyed Nouraldin Wazhi. “The agents raided the house and assaulted Mala Jamaladdin Wazhi and seized his equipment such as laptop and mobile phones after arresting him,” a member of the family told Rudaw English on Wednesday.
“The agents hurled insults at the family in the presence of Mala Wazhi’s elderly father, Seyyid Nouraldin Wazhi, the most prominent Kurdish Sunni scholar in Iran,” the member, whose identity has been concealed, added.
Then, on Tuesday morning, security forces detained two more clerics in the same town. They were named by Kurdish human rights groups as Mala Younes Nokhah and Mala Seyyid Soleiman Ahmadi.
Another cleric, Mala Hassan Koohi, was arrested in Sardasht earlier this month while a number of others in the Kurdish area of the country (Rojhelat) were threatened with meeting the same fate.
At least nine Kurdish clerics are currently in prison, after being during the recent wave of protests. One cleric who has been threatened with being arrested spoke to Rudaw English from Kurdistan province on Wednesday.
“There is enormous pressure on clerics and they are increasing it day by day,” he said, choosing to remain anonymous for safety purposes. “They are constantly detaining and summoning the clerics but they are cautious about detaining Friday prayer clerics to avoid further antagonizing people.”
The latest arrests came after 80 clerics from Piranshahr, Nagedeh, and Oshnavieh (Shno) released a video statement condemning the execution of protesters, describing them as “un-Islamic” and “illegal”.
In the statement, the clerics place the blame on deepening corruption and mismanagement of the country as the main catalysts behind the protest movement, condemning the government for not listening to the protesters’ demands.
They proceed to say that instead of lending an ear to the movement, the regime instead instigates a “wave of terrifying executions” and “arbitrary arrests” in addition to subjecting thousands to “inhumane and humiliating torture” as well as long-term prison sentences.
“Labeling protesters enemy of God …based on the verse 33 of al-Ma’idah chapter in the Quran is a grave injustice to the teaching of the Quran and the divine word … and lacks any legal and Sharia justification,” Mala Sharif Mahmoudpour said while reading the statement.
The verse was used by the Islamic republic to justify killing protesters.
“Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and spread mischief in the land is death, crucifixion, cutting off their hands and feet on opposite sides, or exile from the land,” it reads.
Kurdish Sunni clerics argue that the verse is misused by the authorities and does not apply to protesters.
Mahmoudpour’s statement is a slap to both the state and its ultimate decision maker, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who heralds the Islamic republic as being the true custodian of Islam.
The Sunni clerics in the Baluchestan region, in southeastern in Iran, are also a thorn in the regime’s side. The Makki Mosque, led by Abdolahamid Ismaeelzahi, has become the focal point of protests following most Friday prayers.
A number of Balochi Sunni clerics have been harassed and threatened with arrest if they continue to support the protesters, according to the Baloch Activists Campaign which monitors human rights violations in the Balochi areas.
Other clerics in Baluchestan area have disappeared without any trace including, Molavi Abdulghafar Naqshbandi, in Rask in southeast of the country.
Today marks four months of weekly anti-government protests in Zahedan (southeast Iran) pic.twitter.com/5L878TlPnM
— Karim Sadjadpour (@ksadjadpour) January 20, 2023
Thousands of people took to the streets in Zahedan on Friday after the midday prayer and labeled the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as being no different to the Islamic State (ISIS).
The IRGC killed at least 100 protesters on September 30, including children, a day which has been labeled as “Black Friday” by activists.
Abdolhamid said that the protests would continue until the circumstances behind Black Friday is properly investigated and resolved.
The pressure on the Sunni religious establishment is not limited to the Kurdish and Baluchi areas. Prominent figures in the Turkman areas in north of the country have also come under increasing pressure from the authorities. Mohammad Hossein Gergij has been dismissed from his position as Friday prayer Imam and is currently under house arrest.
The US, UK, Canada, and the European Union have imposed tough sanctions on Iran, targeting officials involved in the crackdown of protests, as well as commanders of the IRGC.
Thousands of protesters are still lingering in jails across the country as the authorities try to stifle dissent through violent repression.
“Minority activists are regularly arrested and prosecuted on arbitrary national security charges in trials that grossly fall short of international standards,” Human Rights Watch said in its 2023 annual report.
Iran has so far executed four individuals in connection with antigovernment protests, largely following questionable trials without any due process and has also handed death sentences to 17 other people, according to the UN.
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