Iranian Authorities Stopped Top Sunni Cleric's Trip to Flood-Hit Region

Iranian authorities on Monday stopped a vehicle carrying Iran's top Sunni cleric, Molavi Abdulhamid, preventing him from reaching flood-stricken areas in Sistan and Baluchistan province.

Molavi, the Friday prayer leader of the restive city of Zahedan, was reportedly travelling with his companions when security forces stopped their convoy at a police station along the Zahedan-Khash road.

The security forces detained his two teenage sons, who were travelling with him.

In protest, the cleric refused to leave the location until his children were released, according to a report by the Haalvash news site.

The Baluch Activists Campaign condemned the incident and reported that people from Zahedan had started to gather near the police station on Monday afternoon in protest.

The incident took place after Molavi criticized the government's response to the recent flooding in Sistan and Baluchistan that has affected over 110,000, leaving them either displaced or in dire circumstances. He has urged the public to assist those affected.

Due to heavy rainfall and flooding, several hundred villages in the province are still inundated.

The flooding has severely impacted farms, mud houses, rural roads, and local infrastructure, resulting in the closure of roads and isolating the villages from the nearby cities and each other.

Due to the flooded roads, broken bridges, and washed-out pathways, only air assistance is presently feasible.

The majority of people living in the Sistan and Baluchistan Province in southeastern Iran are Sunni Muslims, whereas Shi'a Muslims comprise the majority of the population across the country.