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Iranian Lawmakers: End Sunni Cleric's Travel Ban

by Michael Lipin

   A group of Iranian lawmakers has called on the government to lift
   travel restrictions on the most influential Sunni minority cleric in
   Shiite-majority Iran.

   In a tweet posted Wednesday, Iranian lawmaker Mahmoud Sadeghi said he
   and 19 other lawmakers had signed a letter appealing for an end to the
   travel ban on the Sunni cleric, Molavi Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi. The
   letter was addressed to Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi and
   Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli.

   In the letter, the lawmakers said Iran needs to be unified in order to
   face perceived threats from U.S. President Donald Trump and other
   foreign powers. They said limiting the prominent Iranian Sunni cleric's
   travel is not reasonable under such circumstances.

   Abdolhamid revealed last year that Iran's Shiite rulers had banned him
   from traveling outside his home province of Sistan Baluchistan in the
   country's southeast, with an exception for travel to Tehran. Other
   Iranian Sunni clerics have faced similar restrictions.

   The cleric, who serves as the government-approved Friday prayer leader
   in the city of Zahedan, used a sermon in May to call on Tehran to stop
   restricting the domestic travel of Iranian Sunni clergy. The Sunni
   Online website quoted him as saying the Iranian constitution does not
   allow any organization to ban an Iranian citizen from traveling to
   different parts of the country.

   The U.S.-based Center for Human Rights in Iran has described Abdolhamid
   as both a loyal supporter of Iran's Shiite-led Islamist system and an
   outspoken defender of constitutional rights of minority Sunnis.

   [1]Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sent a letter to
   Abdolhamid last August, saying all elements of Iran's Islamist
   establishment must refrain from "discrimination and inequality among
   Iranians [of] any ethnicity, race or faith."

   In a [2]January interview with CHRI, Abdolhamid said he expected
   President Hassan Rouhani's government to embrace that decree, but had
   not seen any changes so far.

   Abdolhamid also said Tehran had shown little appreciation for his
   efforts to keep the peace in Sistan Baluchistan.

   "Our province is turbulent because of the long border [with Pakistan
   and Afghanistan] and the authorities acknowledge that peace is
   maintained by the efforts made by the Sunni religious leaders," he told
   CHRI. "So you would think the authorities would not have a problem with
   us, but they do. It all comes down to intolerance."

   This report was produced in collaboration with [3]VOA's Persian
   Service.

   Michael covers international news for VOA on the web, radio and TV,
   specializing in the Middle East and East Asia Pacific. Follow him on
   Twitter [4]@Michael_Lipin

References

   1. https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2017/09/06/1512301/leader-reiterates-prohibition-of-ethnic-racial-discrimination-in-iran
   2. https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2018/01/iranian-sunni-cleric-faces-travel-restrictions-it-all-comes-down-to-intolerance/
   3. https://ir.voanews.com/
   4. https://twitter.com/Michael_Lipin