Sunni Kurdish Imam Backs Iran’s Execution of Protesters

Amid widespread condemnation of Iran’s recent hanging of two young men involved in the ongoing wave of nationwide protests, the Sunni Friday prayer leader for the Kurdish town of Marivan has expressed support for the execution of demonstrators, contradicting the views of the country’s most prominent Sunni cleric.

Molavi Abdolhamid used his last Friday prayer sermon in the eastern city of Zahedan to say it was wrong to charge protesters with capital offenses such as “waging war against God” (Moharebeh).

"Accusing people for Moharebeh does not solve the problem and the protests will not stop with it," said Abdolhamid, who had previously criticized the Shia clerical regime’s bloody crackdown on the demonstrations.

Molavi has great influence among the Sunni Baluch minority living in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, which Zahedan is the capital of, as well as among Kurds living in western Iran.

Mustafa Shirzadi, the Sunni Friday prayer leader for Marivan, is a known supporter of the Islamic Republic. He recently expressed disagreement with Abdolhamid regarding the execution of protesters.

"Blocking people's way and stabbing and attacking security defenders with cold weapons and creating chaos and terror in broad daylight are considered Muharebeh, from the point of view of Sunnis," he recently said.

"Anyone who wants to endanger the safety of members of society, with [bare] hands or with cold or hot weapons, is the enemy of God (Mohareb)."

It’s not the first time Shirzadi has adopted a tough line toward convicts who are facing execution following a grossly unfair judicial process.

Two cousins were found guilty of "waging war against God" for allegedly killing Shirzadi’s son and two other people in 2008.

Eyewitnesses said at the time that the cousins, Zaniar and Loghman Moradi, were not behind the killing, and the two accused claimed they had been subjected to torture and sexual threats while in detention.

A mediator told IranWire that Shirzadi rejected all attempts to spare the lives of the two convicts, who were later executed.

Zaniar and Loghman Moradi were said to have been the victims of a dispute between the government and Zaniar's father, Iqbal Moradi, a well-known political activist in western Iran who was killed five days after the execution of the two cousins.

The security forces have cracked down hard on the wave of protests sparked by the September 16 death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of Tehran’s morality police. At least 458 people have been killed, including 63 children, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group says. At least 18,000 people have reportedly been arrested.

According to information gathered by IranWire, at least 28 people involved in the demonstrations have been handed capital punishment. Iran carried out the first execution on December 8, followed by a second one four days later.

The demonstrations and state clampdown have been particularly intense in the country’s western Kurdish areas and Sistan and Baluchistan.