Prominent Iranian Sunni leader Maulana Abdulhamid, from Iran’s southeast Sistan and Baluchistan province, met with president-elect Rouhani and former president Mohammad Khatami. Abdulhamid’s interview with the Reformist Bahar is the first interview with a major domestic media outlet in some time, and was shared widely on social media. The meeting could signal the beginning of improved relations between the central government and some of Iran’s more economically and politically deprived provinces.
Abdulhamid said that Rouhani’s “attention to ethnic and religious minorities is higher than we expected.” He continued, “The biggest criticism of ethnic minorities is the absence of qualified Sunni individuals in the previous administrations. Sunnis have frequently complained about this.” In Iran’s government, top posts are almost always assigned to individuals from the Shia sect.
Abudlhamid expressed his hope that a deputy would be assigned to address ethnic and religious issues. He criticized the current policy of having an adviser to the president to address these issues, saying, “In the last year, the Sunni adviser was not able to the see the president once. The position of the adviser needs to be eliminated and be replaced with a deputy.”
“We expect to have the same freedoms as Christians and Jews,” said Abdulhamid. “Shiites and Sunnis are brothers and they must be able to tolerate one another.” Abdulhamid said that although there was improvement in “services, construction and development, the major issue was hiring and assigning responsibilities and positions to Sunnis.” Although local representatives can advise in the process, the president chooses the governors of the provinces.
Abdulhamid said that although there was much more freedom under Reformist Khatami, “The last eight years of the Principilists in power, more pressure was applied to Sunnis. Some of the problems all Iranians shared, but there were additional problems for us. The people that would come here were prejudiced and would apply their plans with bias.”
Abdulhamid hopes that Rouhani’s “election slogan of moderation is implemented.”
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