Three Arrested in Sarab on Charges of Promoting 'Yamaniyah'

Mikael Vatankhah, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of 'Sarab' in East Azerbaijan Province, announced the arrest of three individuals in this city on charges of 'promoting Yamaniyah'. According to Fars News Agency, on December 3, Mr. Vatankhah stated this to reporters and added that these individuals were arrested by the order of 'judicial authorities'. This judicial official mentioned that one of the detainees, without naming him, 'had previously lived in Switzerland' and returned to 'Sarab' in recent years, engaging in the 'promotion of Hassan Yamani and the Yamaniyah sect'. Vatankhah added that after receiving reports about the holding of meetings by this 'sect' aimed at 'misleading some youths', several individuals were arrested and the continuation of these meetings was prevented. 'Yamani' is the name of a newly emerged religious movement that began its activities in the final years of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, led by a person named 'Ahmad al-Hassan Yamani'. Iranian officials describe this movement and its leader as 'deviants' of the Shia religion, claiming to have a 'relationship' with the twelfth Imam of Shia Muslims and presenting themselves as his 'successor'. The activities of this religious movement are banned in Iran. The 'Yamani movement', as some news sites and Iranian officials say, operates 'covertly' in some cities in Iran and uses individuals who are 'trusted by the people' to promote itself. In Iran, the activities of many religious and mystical movements that have emerged in recent centuries are prohibited, and Iranian officials consider these movements as 'products of Western countries'. The public and revolutionary prosecutor of 'Sarab' also stated in this regard that 'it is naive to deny the footprints of the enemies of Islam in the dissemination and promotion of deviant movements and sects.'