Following the Islamic Revolution of Iran, the Iranian government has been criticized by international organizations over mistreating minorities including Sunnis, Jews and Christians.
According to the Iranian Constitution, minorities are prohibited from promoting their religions and faiths. Over the past few years, Sunnis have tried to open their first ever mosque in Tehran, but the government has banned them from doing so.
Although the conditions have softened under the Rouhani administration, many believe that Sunnis need to exercise their inalienable right of opening their own mosque in the Iranian capital.
An Iranian researcher, Ali Sharafi, says Sunnis are currently enjoying freedom and democracy in the country, despite the existing problems and restrictions.
“Minorities experience the same problems across the Middle East region. As a matter of fact, democracy in this region is not same as the democracy in Western countries such as the United States. Unfortunately extremist groups can easily promote their activities and pose threats to the communities if they find a suitable haven. The Islamic Republic of Iran mainly doesn’t allow minorities to promote their religions in order to stop extremist groups from being created,” Ali Sharafi outlined in an interview with the Master Herald.
“This is not understandable for the European and North American governments, but we need to study the roots of the Islamic militant groups such as ISIS and al-Qaeda. They all have been created in places that extremist Islamic beliefs are being promoted. The Iranian government just wants to stop this, and I believe Iranians also support this idea,” Sharafi continued.
Ali Sharafi went on to say that Sunnis have their own representatives in Iran’s Parliament. “In my opinion, Sunnis and the other minority groups are not actually oppressed. They have their own rights, but the government pays attention to the other side of this policy.” Ali Sharafi concluded.
It is worth mentioning that Iran has a population of over 75 million. Roughly 60 million Iranians are Shia Muslims.