Over the past few months, the Jaish al-Adl militant group has carried out a number of attacks against the bases of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in the province of Sistan Baluchestan. Accordingly, the Sunni militant group has managed to kill a number of IRGC members so far.
Mohammad Ali Vakili, managing director of Ebtekar Newspaper of Iran, believes that the Iranian government should not blame Sunnis for the attacks carried out by Jaish al-Adl. The Sunni militant group has already accused Iran’s government of abusing Sunnis and other minorities in the country.
“I strongly believe that the Iranian government has not paid attention to the legit requests of Sunnis in Iran. This has made people unhappy with the government in several provinces such as Sistan Baluchestan and Kurdistan. The Rouhani’s administration should implement new plans to improve the living conditions in these provinces,” Mohammad Ali Vakili told local media on Sunday.
Vakili went on to say that Sunnis have never ever supported terrorist operations in the country. “Despite being unhappy with the Iranian government, Sunnis doesn’t offer support to militant groups. In my opinion, politicians and members of parliament should not blame Sunnis for the attacks conducted by Jaish al-Adl.”
Molavi Abdul-Hamid, a local Sunni leader in the province of Sistan Baluchestan, played an important role in releasing the Iranian abducted soldiers last month.
Sunnis in Iran always complain of discrimination as they are believed to be treated as second-class citizens. President Hassan Rouhani has already promised to make new changes in this regard to benefit the Sunni community of Iran.
It is worth mentioning that Sunni Muslims in Iran are usually banned from holding their own religious ceremonies in the country. The Iranian government has reportedly turned down the request of Sunnis seeking authority to build mosque in Tehran, the capital of Iran.