Monday, December 21, 2015 10:19:22 AM
Iran is engaging in sectarian discrimination against its Sunni population ;
Sunni Muslims' rights are being systematically violated by the Islamic republic.
Iranian authorities have systematically persecuted its Sunni citizens since 1979. While most Iranians follow the Shiite branch of Islam, there are millions of Sunnis who also call Iran their home. However, in the capital Tehran and major cities like Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad, this minority religious community is forbidden from having its own mosques, the Observers website said.
Accordingly, Habibollah Sarbazi, a Baluch rights activist, revealed a part of systematic persecution of Sunnis by the regime of Iran in an exclusive report.
1. Imam Shafei Mosque was seized and confiscated by IRGC during the Iran-Iraq War in 1982.
2. A seminary was closed when its headmaster Molavi Barahoei was arrested in Saleh Abad of Torbat-e Jam in Razavi Khorasan Province in 1989.
3. Imam Abu-Hanifeh Seminary was closed in 1989 and its headmasters were detained.
4. Sogh al-Mizan Mosque located in Khoramshahr City was closed in 1992 and repurposed to a Hussainiya (a congregation hall for Shia commemoration ceremonies, especially those associated with the Remembrance of Muharram)
5. Rangooni�s Indian Mosque, founded in 1912, belonging to workers from Myanmar (Burma), who had gone to work in the Abadan refinery, was seized and repurposed to a museum.
6. Sheykh Feyz Mosque was destroyed by officials overnight and changed into a park in 1993.
7. The Abadan refinery mosque was closed during Ramadan (the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and the month in which the Quran was revealed, one of the Five Pillars of Islam) in 2004 and the founders were taken to prison.
8. Husseinin Mosque was closed in Yousefi District of Ahwaz (the capital of Khuzestan Province) in 2005
9. The devotion building of Husseinin Mosque was seized in 2006
10. Javadiey Mosque located in Bojnourd City was destroyed overnight and repurposed to a park in 2007.
11. Imam Abu-Hanifeh Seminary, with more than 600 religious students, was destroyed by armed forces in Azim Abad of Zabol in Sistan and Baluchistan Province in 2008.
12. A mosque was closed in Fazel Abad City of Golestan in 2008.
13. An old mosque in Tehran was closed in 2010 and its Friday prayer leader was detained.
14. Imam Shafei Mosque was closed in Ghosbeh (Gosbeh) District in Abadan City and repurposed to a Hussainiya.
15. The only mosque in Kahnooj City was closed by Iran�s security forces in 2011.
16. A mosque in Golshahr of Banda Abbas was closed in 2011.
17. Iran�s officials reportedly prevented the renovation of Imam Novy Seminary in Kooseh Bookan and the school was closed after the dismissal of its headmasters.
18. A mosque was closed in Roudbar of Kerman Province in 2011.
19. Officails prevented the renovation of an old mosque in Esmaeil Abad of Mashhad in 2011 and its leader was detained.
20. A mosque was closed in Pasdaran Avenue in Birjand City in 2012.
21. Sedigh Seminary was closed in Torbat-e Jam in 2013.
22. Masoomieh Mosque was closed in 2013.
23. Rezwan Mosque was closed in Talesh City in 2013.
24. Poonak Mosque was closed in 2015.
By: Kaveh Taheri
