Shahram Rafizadeh ‎

The Friday prayer leader of Zahedan’s Sunni community issued yet another protest to the ‎government’s interference in the Sunni community’s religious affairs, citing the passage ‎and implementation of a new memorandum by the High Council for Cultural Revolution ‎curtailing the freedom of Sunni religious seminaries. ‎

The new High Council for Cultural Revolution’s memorandum, titled “Bylaws of Sunni ‎Religious Seminaries Planning Commission,” has added to discontent among the ‎country’s Sunni minority. According to an official report by the Islamic Republic’s ‎News Agency, the “Bylaws of Sunni Religious Seminaries Planning Commission” has 10 ‎Articles and 4 Addendums. According to one article, from now on Sunni religious ‎seminaries will be managed and run according to the Bylaws of Sunni Religious ‎Seminaries Planning Commission and under the guidance of representatives appointed by ‎the supreme leader. ‎

In addition to Sunni clerics that have openly criticized the new measure, the Friday ‎prayer leader of Zahedan’s Sunni community yesterday addressed members of the High ‎Council for Cultural Revolution, “The High Council for Cultural Revolution is ‎responsible for governing the country’s schools and universities. Sunni clerics are ‎responsible for overseeing the education of the Sunni community and Sunni schools and ‎seminaries.” ‎

Molavi Abdolhamid identified religious beliefs as the red line for Sunnis and Shias, ‎noting, “No individual, group or government should cross these red lines.” ‎

Molavi Abdolhamid added, “We announce to head of states in which Sunnis have a ‎majority that they should not interfere in religious customs and practices of Shias, and in ‎places where Sunnis are in minority, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, no one should ‎interfere in the religious affairs of the Sunni community.”‎

He noted, “The Constitution has afforded us this right and we respect the Constitution… ‎The Constitution is the backbone of the state and nation, and no one is allowed to act ‎above the Constitution. The responsibilities of every institution have been outlined in the ‎Constitution. Because the Constitution has given us members of the Sunni community ‎complete religious freedom, we are free to run, manage and promote our religious ‎seminaries.” ‎

The Friday prayer leader of Zahedan’s Sunni community added, “Religious schools and ‎seminaries are independent and have their own curriculum, just as Shia religious ‎seminaries are independently operated without government’s interference.” ‎

He also called on Islamic Republic officials to refrain from “politicizing religion,” ‎adding, “The government is in charge of political and economic affairs and providing ‎security for the country’s citizens. Religion and beliefs must not become politicized; ‎rather, the government must become religious.” ‎