Iran’s Top Sunni Cleric Urges Restraint Amid Pakistan Standoff

Iran's most prominent Sunni cleric used his Friday prayer sermon on January 19 to denounce the recent exchange of airstrikes between Iran and Pakistan and to call on the two neighbors to prioritize diplomacy over the use of force. 

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) carried out a missile and drone attack on what it called "terrorist" targets in Pakistan late on January 16, with Pakistan in turn striking separatist militant targets inside Iran on January 18.

The tit-for-tat military actions in the border region of Baluchistan, shared between the two countries, has further stoked regional tensions already inflamed by the Israel-Hamas war.

Molavi Abdulhamid, the Sunni Friday prayer leader of Zahedan, the capital of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province, deplored the loss of innocent lives in the Pakistani airstrikes and warned that an escalating conflict could trigger a regional conflagration. 

The cleric, who has been a key dissenting voice inside Iran since the eruption of nationwide anti-establishment protests in September 2022, emphasized the historical bonds between the two countries’ populations.

Acknowledging the presence of dissident groups on both sides of the border, Molavi urged both governments to address underlying grievances and foster a peaceful resolution to the standoff. 

Videos circulating online show Zahedan residents chanting anti-government slogans after Friday prayers, and expressing outrage at the loss of civilian lives in the Pakistani airstrikes.