Iran’s Top Sunni Cleric Says “No” to Military Rule

Iran's most prominent Sunni cleric used his Friday sermon to call for an end to the armed forces' influence on politics, saying that current policies have reached a "dead end."

“The armed forces cannot run the country," Molavi Abdulhamid, the Sunni Friday prayer leader of the southeastern city of Zahedan, said on February 16.

Molavi, who has been a key dissenting voice inside Iran since the eruption of nationwide anti-establishment protests in September 2022, criticized the selection processes for managers and officials in the Islamic Republic and deplored the mass disqualification of “competent and capable” candidates for elections.

The cleric said that policies have remained unchanged after the 2022 uprising, which led to a "loss of spirit" among the people. 

“The rightful demands of the people were not addressed," he said.

Criticizing the "inappropriate treatment" of women in prisons, the cleric demanded that "their human dignity be preserved" and they be granted the right to self-defense and choose their own lawyer.