Mowlavi Abdolhamid delivering a Friday sermon in Zahedan on January 6, 2023
The official newspaper of the Iranian government has lashed out at Sunni religious leader of Zahedan, claiming that Mowlavi Abdolhamid is trying to lead “riots”.
Iran Daily, the formal government newspaper, leveled the accusation on Saturday, saying that the Friday Imam of Zahedan in the largely Sunni southeastern Sistan- Baluchestan province continues to play his “destructive role against national security and unity”.
The daily also claimed in an editorial note that the “CIA media arms have invested on Abdolhamid”.
After the Bloody Friday of Zahedan on September 30, in which tens of Baluch citizens were killed by the regime, Mowlavi Abdolhamid held Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responsible and demanded the cancellation of death sentences for protesters. He has continued calling for justice and respect for the people, gaining support from non-Sunni Iranians.
Last week, Mohammad Javad Larijani, one of the political figures of the Islamic Republic, implicitly called for the destruction of Makki Mosque in which Mowlavi Abdolhamid makes critical sermons on Fridays.
Earlier in November, the hacktivist group Black Reward targeted the data servers of Fars news agency, a media network affiliated with the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guard, releasing several documents to media indicating that Khamenei is dismayed by Mowlavi Abdolhamid’s remarks, the most prominent religious leader of Iran's largely Sunni Baluch population.
The documents also revealed that instead of arresting or harming him, Khamenei ordered underlings to tarnish Abdolhamid’s reputation so that his influence would decrease among the Sunni population of the country.