Zahedan Prosecutor Confirms the Arrest of a Sunni Imam

Following reports of unrest in the Sarbaz county due to the arrest of the Sunni Imam of Pashamg, the Zahedan prosecutor confirmed that he was summoned to the Special Court for Clergy after 'several warnings.' Ali Mohammadi Rad, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Zahedan, stated in an interview with the Mizan news agency, affiliated with the judiciary, that Mowlavi Fazl-ur-Rahman Kouhi, the Sunni Imam of Pashamg, was summoned regarding 'the need to maintain unity.' While the Zahedan prosecutor only mentioned the summoning of Mowlavi Fazl-ur-Rahman Kouhi, the Sunni Online website reported that he was 'arrested' by the Special Court for Clergy in Mashhad on Tuesday, April 14, and remains in custody. The Zahedan prosecutor also accused this Imam of inviting individuals 'to join terrorist groups' and of making 'harsh statements against the internal and external security of the regime' in recent months. He did not elaborate on the Imam's statements. The 'Baloch Activists Campaign' website previously published remarks from Mowlavi Fazl-ur-Rahman Kouhi criticizing 'the IRGC's plan to grant military service exemptions and pay four million tomans to Sunni scholars who go to Syria for leisure.' According to the report, this Sunni cleric stated that 'any scholar or Mowlavi who goes to Syria is not a scholar or Mowlavi, but rather an oppressor.' Some Sunni individuals in Iran have been killed in the internal conflicts in Syria while supporting Bashar al-Assad. However, some websites have reported that these individuals are fighting in Syria for 'money.' According to Sunni Online, Mowlavi Fazl-ur-Rahman Kouhi, who also manages the religious school 'Anwar al-Haramain' in Pashamg, was arrested after being summoned by the Special Court for Clergy in Mashhad. Meanwhile, the 'Baloch Activists Campaign' reported that several people in Sarbaz county have protested the arrest of this Sunni cleric by holding several gatherings in recent days. According to the report, on Wednesday, April 16, protesters gathered in front of the Sarbaz governor's office, and some demonstrators 'burned tires and blocked the Iran-Shahr-Chabahar transit road' in protest against the arrest of this Sunni cleric. Mowlavi Mohammad Amin Askani, a Sunni cleric from the region, stated on Tuesday to the protesters that 'the intelligence officials and the governor promised and swore' that this Sunni cleric would be released within three days. Previously, reports have emerged regarding restrictions on Sunni clerics in Iran. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported last Esfand that Mowlavi Abdolhamid, the Sunni Imam of Zahedan, has no 'possibility of internal and external travel' except for trips to Tehran, and other Sunni clerics in other parts of Iran are also not allowed to travel to Sistan and Baluchestan province. Mowlavi Abdolhamid has been banned from leaving the country multiple times in recent years when he intended to attend religious meetings abroad. However, he traveled to Mecca in Esfand 95 to attend the 'Fiqh Assembly Conference' and stated in an interview that Iran and Saudi Arabia are 'two important, strategic, and influential countries in the Islamic world and in international relations' and that they should resolve Muslim issues through dialogue in cooperation with other Islamic countries. Ali Yunusi, the special assistant to the Iranian president for ethnic and religious minorities, called in early Shahrivar 95 for the use of 'all national, popular, ethnic, and religious levers' to de-escalate tensions with neighboring countries. Mr. Yunusi stated that Iran's Sunnis could be 'effective in political lobbying' with Saudi Arabia. Sunnis in Iran are deprived of some social rights, including the ability to hold high government positions and the construction of mosques in Tehran.