Increased Pressure from Security Forces on Sunni Religious Figures to Encourage Participation in Government Elections

On Sunday, June 17, the Intelligence Department of the IRGC in Mashhad summoned Mawlawi Habib-ur-Rahman Motahari, the director of the Ahnaf Seminary in Khaf, and threatened him that in exchange for the release of four detained Sunni clerics, he must encourage people to "participate in the elections." The Baloch Activists Campaign reported, citing local sources, that "the IRGC intelligence forces also directly threatened Mawlawi Motahari regarding the detention of his son, Mawlawi Shams-ud-Din." Mawlawi Shams-ud-Din is one of the four Sunni religious figures from Khaf who were arrested last week in Urmia and taken to an unknown location. These four Sunni scholars from the Khaf seminary, Shams-ud-Din Motahari, Hossein Ahmad Shahidi, Fazil Moradi, and Gol Mohammad Mansouri, were arrested after Mawlawi Abdul Hamid, the Sunni Friday Prayer leader of Zahedan, protested against the elections. They had traveled to the west of the country in mid-June and were detained by security forces without a judicial order in Urmia on Wednesday, June 13, 1403. In another report from Halosh, the funeral of Mohammad Gorgij, a prisoner who was killed under torture, was held on Tuesday, June 18, after the Eid al-Adha prayer at the mosque led by Mawlawi Abdul Hamid. According to Halosh, Mawlawi Abdul Hamid Ismail Zahi referred to the killing of this Baloch prisoner "under torture at the Drug Control Headquarters" in Zahedan, stating that "those who committed such acts must be dealt with and held accountable." The Sunni Friday Prayer leader of Zahedan said in this sermon: "Torture of any prisoner detained on any charges, whether political or drug-related, is religiously forbidden," and added: "There is no justification for forced confessions." Previously, Mawlawi Abdul Hamid, the Sunni Friday Prayer leader of Zahedan, emphasized again in his recent remarks on June 15, 1403, regarding the presidential elections in July that "the president in Iran cannot do anything." The crackdown on Sunni clerics continues while the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed concern about the increased pressure on religious minorities in Iran and the detention of their leaders following the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests in a statement. The statement emphasized that many Sunni religious leaders, including those who called for peaceful dialogue between protesters and the government, have also been detained by the Islamic Republic. According to reports, the advocacy of Sunni clerics, particularly Mawlawi Abdul Hamid, the Friday Prayer leader of Zahedan, and the support of Sunni clerics for him is one of the main factors behind the security and judicial crackdowns on this segment of clerics within the structure of the Islamic Republic. After Mawlawi Abdul Hamid's protest against the elections, four other Sunni clerics were detained in Urmia, and a special clerical court dismissed a Sunni cleric from the Friday Prayer leadership. Mawlawi Abdul Hamid stated that the government of Ebrahim Raisi has oppressed "Sunnis" and the people of Iran.