Tightening the Siege on the 'Shirazi' Faction

Ayatollah Sadeq Shirazi, an independent and critical religious authority, has come under new restrictions. According to his close associates, on the night of Saturday, November 6, 2016, police forces raided the only official center for publishing and distributing the works and religious explanations of Ayatollah Sadeq Shirazi located in Qom, in the Gozar Khan neighborhood, breaking down the door and seizing all books and cultural and religious materials, transferring them to an unknown location. These works were all authorized by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Another news source has reported that a judicial order to delete archival news related to Ayatollah Sadeq Shirazi has been issued based on a resolution by the National Security Council regarding the prohibition of news about this critical cleric. However, no documentation regarding the National Security Council's resolution has been observed, and the validity of this claim remains uncertain. Additionally, unofficial and unconfirmed reports from governmental sources indicate that the Shirazi household is under pressure to shut down aligned networks abroad and to refrain from promoting Ayatollah Sadeq Shirazi's authority during the Arbaeen ceremonies in Iraq. Over the past two years, tensions between the government and the Shirazi faction have noticeably increased. The Shirazis distanced themselves from the Islamic Republic in the early years after the revolution. The restriction of Ayatollah Mohammad Shirazi and the violation of his rights soured relations. When Ayatollah Sadeq Shirazi took over the leadership of the Shirazi faction, tensions initially decreased, but after the 2009 election protests and his support for the 'Green Movement' and his speeches opposing the theory of Velayat-e Faqih, the mentioned rift became active, and the government gradually moved towards exerting pressure and controlling this faction. It now seems that after confronting activists of television networks close to him in Qom and disrupting programming within the country and imposing restrictions on his household's activities, the step-by-step confrontation policy has entered a new phase. The prohibition of news alongside the ban on the publication of his media and books has tightened the siege. If his classes are also canceled or if he is not allowed to hold religious ceremonies, then the final stage of the control policy, namely house arrest, will be realized. The Islamic Republic has previously used this punitive tactic against clerics such as Ayatollahs Kazem Shariatmadari, Al-Shabir Khaghani, Hassan Qomi, Mohammad Shirazi, and Hossein Ali Montazeri. It appears that the project of confronting and containing the Shirazi faction and delegitimizing them is being carried out in religious spaces under the supervision of Ayatollah Khamenei and with his direct guidance. The Shirazis are usually referred to indirectly in the speeches of the leadership and the forces aligned with the Velayat-e Faqih institution as 'English Shiites.' Following the government's recent crackdown, Fars News Agency published an article titled 'The Triangle of Money, Media, and Organization; The Roadmap of Several Decades of Shirazi Activities' on November 7, which could provide a basis for deciphering the illegal actions that have occurred. Fars News Agency identifies the main issue with the Shirazis as their pursuit and promotion of the discourse of 'non-political Islam' and warns that the threat from the Shirazi faction has increased and they have managed to enhance their influence in religious gatherings. 'However, in recent years, with the help of astronomical funds, this faction in religious gatherings, the establishment of numerous satellite networks, and extensive media presence in cyberspace; their deviant thoughts have gained more traction. A review of the Shirazi's promotional activities over the past few decades shows that this is not the first time they have sought media assistance to increase their influence.' The main aim of Fars News Agency is to emphasize media activities as the main propaganda tool of the Shirazi faction and its conclusion defends the maintenance and intensification of media restrictions against this faction. However, Fars News has not explained how a faction that has been under pressure in recent years has managed to grow? At the same time, the Fars article indicates the failure of the government's contraction policies and violations of citizens' rights against the Shirazi faction. The aforementioned confrontation is one of the recent examples of the violation of religious freedom in Iran. The continuation of strict measures and harassment of Sunni scholars, the unclear status of Mohammad Ali Taheri, the founder of the Circle of Gnosis, and the intensification of pressure against Baha'is and the continuous and systematic violation of their rights are other instances that reflect the dire state of religious freedoms as one of the sources of human rights violations in Iran. Religious freedom and religious activities, including proselytizing, are fundamental human rights that are specified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its supplementary conventions, and the government has an international obligation to respect them. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic is based on religious discrimination, which, alongside ordinary laws and restrictive practices and security measures, has created a planned mechanism for controlling and managing the religious atmosphere of society within the framework of the official interpretation of the government in the years following the revolution. Naturally, in a free space, supporters and opponents of religions and sects can express their views in society, and ultimately individuals can choose their religion, sect, or preferred interpretation based on their conclusions or have no religious belief at all. However, the Islamic Republic, due to its theocratic nature and also religious authoritarianism, is deliberately and consciously not receptive to religious freedom and pursues a policy of univocal and directive governance by rejecting religious tolerance. It is not incorrect to say that one of the foundations of the survival of the Velayat-e Faqih institution is the prevention of religious freedom and the creation of a monopoly for the official and government-preferred interpretation.