Tensions are running high in a southeastern Iranian province with a majority Sunni population after a protest against the recent arrest of local religious figures ended in bloodshed.
At least one person was killed and two injured after police forces opened fire on the protesters, who had gathered in the city of Rask in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province on May 14. According to reports, they were demonstrating against the recent arrests of the son of the city's Friday Prayers leader and other Sunni clerics.
Sunni Muslims make the majority of the population in Sistan-Baluchistan but make up only about 10 percent of the population in Shi'a-dominated Iran overall.
Iran's officials and state media have not reported on the unrest. But SunniOnline, a website that covers news about Iran's Sunni minority, wrote that police opened fire on protesters, resulting in the death of a man identified as Jan Mohammad Dehghani. His funeral was reportedly held on May 15.
Quoting unidentified citizens of Rask, the daily "Etemad" reported that at least two people were killed in the shooting, without providing further details.
Deutsche Welle's Farsi Service quoted a source in Rask as saying that a number of protesters were rounded up and suggesting that more arrests could follow after authorities traveled from the provincial capital to investigate.
"Protesters were filmed, today security forces came from Zahedan to identify [those who took part in the protest] and arrest them," the unidentified source reportedly told the German news agency.
The recent arrest of Abdolghafar Naghshbandi, the son of Rask Friday Prayers leader Molavi Fathi Naghshbandi, was apparently the most immediate cause of the protests. He was reportedly arrested upon returning from nearby Zahedan, where he had traveled to learn about the fate of his father, who was imprisoned along with a number of other Sunni scholars in mid-April.
SunniOnline wrote that women initiated the protest in Rask and were later joined by other citizens angry over the arrests of Sunni figures.
Some reports say Friday Prayers leader Fathi Naghshbandi and a dozen others were arrested in connection with the January assassination of pro-government Sunni cleric Molavi Mostafa Jang Zehi. Jang Zehi was killed by unknown assailants on a road in Sistan-Baluchistan.
Iran's Intelligence Ministry said in April that it had arrested "15 terrorists" involved in the assassination of Jang Zehi, who has been described as a Basij commander and cleric loyal to the establishment. Iranian hard-line websites reported that Jang Zehi had received death threats from the Sunni militant group Jundullah, which is believed to be behind a number of attacks in the region in the past few years. The group, whose leader was executed in Iran in 2010, has been labeled as a terrorist organization by Iran and the United States.
The ministry claimed that the opposition Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) was involved in planning the attack, while "elements affiliated with Wahhabi groups" carried out the assassination. The ministry didn't provide the names of those arrested. SunniOnline later reported that Fathi Naghshbandi and Molavi Abdollah Molazadeh, the Friday Prayers leader of the city of Paroud, are among those arrested on terrorism charges.
Members of Iran's Sunni minority often complain of discrimination and neglect by the government.
Although Iran's constitution guarantees the rights of the country's minorities, Sunnis are in practice not allowed to build their own mosques in major cities. Sunni clerics critical of the Iranian establishment face pressure and they are sometimes denounced as "Wahhabis."
SunniOnline reports that there have also been protests over the arrest of Sunni scholars in Jagikour, located in Sistan-Baluchistan's Sarbaz district, of which Rask is the capital.
-- Golnaz Esfandiari
At least one person was killed and two injured after police forces opened fire on the protesters, who had gathered in the city of Rask in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province on May 14. According to reports, they were demonstrating against the recent arrests of the son of the city's Friday Prayers leader and other Sunni clerics.
Sunni Muslims make the majority of the population in Sistan-Baluchistan but make up only about 10 percent of the population in Shi'a-dominated Iran overall.
Iran's officials and state media have not reported on the unrest. But SunniOnline, a website that covers news about Iran's Sunni minority, wrote that police opened fire on protesters, resulting in the death of a man identified as Jan Mohammad Dehghani. His funeral was reportedly held on May 15.
Quoting unidentified citizens of Rask, the daily "Etemad" reported that at least two people were killed in the shooting, without providing further details.
Deutsche Welle's Farsi Service quoted a source in Rask as saying that a number of protesters were rounded up and suggesting that more arrests could follow after authorities traveled from the provincial capital to investigate.
"Protesters were filmed, today security forces came from Zahedan to identify [those who took part in the protest] and arrest them," the unidentified source reportedly told the German news agency.
The recent arrest of Abdolghafar Naghshbandi, the son of Rask Friday Prayers leader Molavi Fathi Naghshbandi, was apparently the most immediate cause of the protests. He was reportedly arrested upon returning from nearby Zahedan, where he had traveled to learn about the fate of his father, who was imprisoned along with a number of other Sunni scholars in mid-April.
SunniOnline wrote that women initiated the protest in Rask and were later joined by other citizens angry over the arrests of Sunni figures.
Some reports say Friday Prayers leader Fathi Naghshbandi and a dozen others were arrested in connection with the January assassination of pro-government Sunni cleric Molavi Mostafa Jang Zehi. Jang Zehi was killed by unknown assailants on a road in Sistan-Baluchistan.
Iran's Intelligence Ministry said in April that it had arrested "15 terrorists" involved in the assassination of Jang Zehi, who has been described as a Basij commander and cleric loyal to the establishment. Iranian hard-line websites reported that Jang Zehi had received death threats from the Sunni militant group Jundullah, which is believed to be behind a number of attacks in the region in the past few years. The group, whose leader was executed in Iran in 2010, has been labeled as a terrorist organization by Iran and the United States.
The ministry claimed that the opposition Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) was involved in planning the attack, while "elements affiliated with Wahhabi groups" carried out the assassination. The ministry didn't provide the names of those arrested. SunniOnline later reported that Fathi Naghshbandi and Molavi Abdollah Molazadeh, the Friday Prayers leader of the city of Paroud, are among those arrested on terrorism charges.
Members of Iran's Sunni minority often complain of discrimination and neglect by the government.
Although Iran's constitution guarantees the rights of the country's minorities, Sunnis are in practice not allowed to build their own mosques in major cities. Sunni clerics critical of the Iranian establishment face pressure and they are sometimes denounced as "Wahhabis."
SunniOnline reports that there have also been protests over the arrest of Sunni scholars in Jagikour, located in Sistan-Baluchistan's Sarbaz district, of which Rask is the capital.
-- Golnaz Esfandiari
