Is the Appointment of Abdul Karim Hosseinzadeh in Line with the Expectations of Iran's Sunni Community?

The appointment of Abdul Karim Hosseinzadeh as the Deputy for Rural Development and Underdeveloped Areas in the Iranian Presidency has received some welcome, but there is a concurrent discussion that this appointment does not meet the expectations. Abdul Karim Hosseinzadeh is considered the first Sunni member in the cabinet of the Islamic Republic, and this could be the highest governmental position a Sunni citizen has achieved in the past 45 years. Hasal Dasa, a Kurdish political activist and representative of the Sunni community from Piranshahr and Sardasht in the Sixth Parliament, and Salahuddin Khadiu, a political analyst in Mahabad, told Radio Farda that the Sunni community expected a Kurdish Sunni figure to be introduced as a minister. In the 45 years since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, no Sunni citizen has ever been appointed as a minister, and the highest position that Sunnis could reach in the government before Hosseinzadeh's appointment was that of deputy minister. Meanwhile, none of the principles of the Constitution and other laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran have excluded religious and ethnic minorities from participating in high-level management of the country, such as ministries and embassies. Perhaps this is why Hasal Dasa, a former Sunni representative in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stated in an interview with Radio Farda that Hosseinzadeh's appointment does not meet the expectations of the Sunni community, and they expected at least one person to be introduced as a minister. However, he added that with this appointment, 'the dam has been broken, and this taboo has been lifted that Sunnis can also be utilized at a higher level, at the level of Deputy President, and this is something to be happy about.' This former representative described the absence of even one Sunni minister in the proposed list by Masoud Pezeshkian to the Parliament as disappointing and stated that Pezeshkian should compensate for it. Now, after the appointment of Abdul Karim Hosseinzadeh as Deputy President, he said that this appointment is 'a beautiful response to the demands of the Sunni community and fulfilling the promises of Mr. Pezeshkian, and the Sunni community in Iran is happy with this appointment because after the cabinet was introduced and no one from the Sunni community was present in the cabinet, disappointment and regret had engulfed the political atmosphere in Iran, and some even expressed regret over their votes.' Salahuddin Khadiu, a political analyst in Mahabad, stated that Hosseinzadeh's appointment as Deputy for Rural Development and Underdeveloped Areas does not meet expectations: 'It does not meet expectations, but it can be a breakthrough for the future, and we hope that the functional barriers that exist will be removed.' Khadiu, who is also Sunni, considers this appointment a 'positive transformation' but also notes that 'this deputy position is a symbolic post and there is even criticism that he is not officially and legally considered a cabinet member. However, despite this, I think it is a step forward and will likely pave the way for other positions that have not yet utilized Sunnis, such as governorships and management of general offices, to break the taboo and allow for the involvement of Sunnis.' Khadiu, who is from Mahabad and is familiar with the new Iranian president, responded to the question of why Pezeshkian did not introduce a Sunni minister by referring to the new president's promises during the election campaign, stating that Pezeshkian's criticisms of discrimination against Sunnis stem from his lived experience: 'I think his understanding of the formal space was not very accurate and was more based on the environment in which he was born and raised, shaped by his own concrete experiences. The gap between these two, the formal space and his lived experience, caused this event to occur.' Pezeshkian had criticized discrimination against Sunnis multiple times during his election campaign. Khadiu states that Hosseinzadeh's appointment 'does not meet the expectations that Pezeshkian set because he addressed this issue extensively in the debates, even without there being a serious expectation from the Sunni community, he acted as a spokesperson for the Sunnis, and I think it was more based on his own experience.' He points to the electoral district of Naqdeh and Oshnavieh in West Azerbaijan, from which Hosseinzadeh was elected as a representative, and raises another criticism regarding his appointment as Deputy President. He says this district is a sensitive area composed of Turkish and Kurdish citizens, and it would have been better for Pezeshkian to choose someone else from the Sunni community for the deputy position while allowing Hosseinzadeh to remain in the Islamic Consultative Assembly and in his electoral district: 'He has very clear views on ethnic issues. He has translated several books in this area, stemming from his multicultural and tolerant perspective, and his presence in the representation of Oshnavieh and Naqdeh is an opportunity that should not be easily missed.' Abdul Karim Hosseinzadeh, born in 1980 in Naqdeh, is a master's degree holder in urban planning. He graduated from the University of Science and Technology in Tehran and was the representative of the people of Naqdeh and Oshnavieh in the twelfth Islamic Consultative Assembly. He is a member of the Assembly's Civil Rights Commission, the head of the Civil Rights Faction, and a reformist political figure who has previously served in the ninth and tenth Parliaments. In his self-introduction on his X (formerly Twitter) account, he describes himself as a civil rights activist. Hosseinzadeh's qualifications for the eleventh parliamentary elections were rejected. He stated that he was accused of not adhering to the system and Islam and of being ethnocentric and Pan-Kurdish, leading to his disqualification. A look at Hosseinzadeh's positions during his years in the Assembly and as the head of the Civil Rights Faction shows that he opposed the 'Noor Plan,' the crackdown on border couriers, and filtering, supported Iran's accession to FATF, wrote an article against the fencing in Tehran's City Theater in the newspaper Shargh, and stated on X against the crackdown on women opposing mandatory hijab: 'Supporters of the ideology that considers confronting women in public as a strategic achievement and that the morality police vans are ambassadors of heavenly honor for women are in a position of gender discrimination, not defenders of its removal. They do not understand the issue and do not realize that they do not understand.' After the death of Mahsa Zhina Amini in the custody of the morality police and during the protests of 'Women, Life, Freedom,' he published a picture of Mahsa Amini on his Instagram and wrote to her, 'I bear witness that this current state of a vast number of your compatriots, regardless of language, ethnicity, and religion, was for you and is for you. They cried and lamented for you from the bottom of their hearts, and they became angry. I saw how they were for you, and I say that Iran lost its daughter, and all of Iran mourned for you.' Before his parliamentary representation, he was an advisor to the Housing Foundation of Kurdistan Province and, during his tenure in the Assembly, was a member of the Sustainable Development Faction of Border Regions in underdeveloped areas, a faction that perhaps has the most connection compared to his other activities with his new position. Hosseinzadeh, who spoke about 'the reasons for the decline of people's hope and the mourning in their hearts' in Masoud Pezeshkian's third campaign documentary, was appointed by Pezeshkian on September 5 as the Deputy for Rural Development and Underdeveloped Areas. What is the Deputy for Rural Development and Underdeveloped Areas? According to the information published on the presidential website, the Deputy for Rural Development and Underdeveloped Areas of the President is a member of the cabinet and is responsible for improving the living conditions of rural residents and enhancing rural development indicators with an emphasis on the role of rural residents in achieving a resilient economy, coordinating with relevant executive bodies within the framework of the approved duties of that deputy, and conducting necessary follow-up and supervision. This deputy position was previously under the First Deputy President but has been removed from that substructure and is now directly under the President. Salahuddin Khadiu, a political analyst in Iran, told Radio Farda that this deputy position is defined within other structures: 'The responsibilities of economic ministries are clear. The organizations and institutions responsible for development in the country are also known, and I do not think that anything specific will practically come from this deputy position. There are many higher institutions in this regard.' Hasal Dasa, a former Sunni representative in the Assembly, stated that 'during the presidency of Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani, the Deputy for Underdeveloped Areas was responsible for tasks such as electrification, water supply, and rural development, but this position does not have the same significance now. We hope it becomes more prominent.' He added, 'For this deputy position to become more prominent, it is necessary to allocate more budgets to this section and define more fundamental projects. Simply having someone as a deputy without any budget being spent in these areas and without any projects being defined will lead to the people becoming disheartened in the near future. The position defined for Mr. Hosseinzadeh must certainly be accompanied by projects and budgets.'