“Respect” Women and Journalists, Iran’s Top Sunni Cleric Tells Rulers

Iran's most prominent Sunni cleric urged the country’s Shia leadership to listen to the demands of the Iranian people and “respect” women and journalists, amid an intensifying crackdown on dissent, the media and women flouting the Islamic Republic’s mandatory hijab rules.

"Respect and value women, reinstate them to their rightful place, and show due respect to the journalists who constitute one of the nation’s most significant assets," Molavi Abdulhamid, the outspoken Sunni Friday prayer leader of Zahedan, said in his sermon on August 11. 

"The strength of the government lies not in disregarding the people's voices but in actively heeding and listening to the people," he added.

Molavi has been a key dissenting voice inside Iran since the eruption of nationwide protests in September 2022, using his sermons to call for fundamental economic, social and political changes in the country.

Zahedan is the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan province, which is home to Iran's Sunni Baluch minority of up to 2 million people. 

The restive city has seen protest rallies almost every Friday since September 30 of last year, when security forces killed nearly 100 people in the deadliest incident in the widespread demonstrations sparked by the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. 

Security forces have responded to the women-led protest movement with brutal force, killing hundreds of people and unlawfully detaining thousands, including dozens of journalists, activists say. 

Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.

The protests and clampdown on dissent have been particularly intense in western Kurdish areas and Sistan and Baluchistan.