18 Members of Parliament Criticize Closure of a Sunni Prayer House

Reports indicate that 18 members of Parliament have criticized the closure of activities at the Salehieh Sunni prayer house in Islamshahr in a written notice to the Minister of Interior. According to ILNA, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of the Hope faction's board in the 10th Parliament, stated that during today's open session of Parliament, together with 18 other representatives, they issued a written notice to the Minister of Interior based on Article 12 of the Constitution, which was not read due to the limited time and the large number of written notices. Sadeghi added that unfortunately, the activities of the Salehieh prayer house belonging to the Sunni community in Islamshahr have recently been suspended, and permission to hold Eid al-Fitr prayers in this mosque has also not been granted. He further stated: "Additionally, permission for Eid al-Fitr prayers in several other mosques, including the Tehranpars Mosque, has not been issued so far. This seems to contradict the unity of Shia and Sunni, which has always been emphasized by the Supreme Leader, and is also in conflict with national security given the sectarian movements in the region." According to this representative, most of the signatories of this written notice are members of the Hope faction. The report lists signatories including Ali Motahari, Mohammad Javad Fathi, Seyyed Farid Mousavi, Mostafa Kaveh Kabi, Alireza Rahimi, Mohammad Ali Vakili, Qasem Mirzaei, Abdolreza Hashemzadeh, Abolfazl Soroush, Jalil Rahimi, and Soheila Jaloudarzadeh. Sunnis in Tehran face challenges regarding the establishment of mosques or holding their ceremonies in the capital and its suburbs. Last year, a Sunni prayer house in the Punak area of Tehran was demolished "by municipal forces" with the "support of security and law enforcement forces." Reports indicated that after "security forces visited the Punak prayer house and seized the mobile phone" of Mawlawi Obaidullah Mousazadeh, the imam of this prayer house, and "searched his home," municipal forces demolished the prayer house. Following this incident, the Sunni Friday prayer leader of Zahedan emphasized in a letter to the Supreme Leader that such actions give "violent and extremist elements the opportunity to exacerbate divisions" and dishearten Sunnis. In August 2008, Sunni representatives in Parliament wrote a letter to then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad requesting the lifting of the ban on building Sunni mosques in Tehran. Sunni activists speak of at least one million Sunnis living in Tehran. In this letter, Sunni representatives of the Islamic Consultative Assembly reminded Ahmadinejad that "although it is much more appropriate to be present in places belonging to foreigners, it does not align with the dignity of citizens and the high status of worship in Islam, as well as the expectations of the public opinion of the Islamic world from the Islamic Republic system." In this context, security forces have "prevented" the holding of Sunni Friday prayers in Tehran, reflecting the "discontent of senior officials" regarding the demolition of the Sunni prayer house.