An Iranian man holding a placard in support of the Sunni leader of Zahedan, Mowlavi Abdolhamid, during Friday prayers on March 10, 2023
People in the southeastern city of Zahedan held protest rallies on Friday for the 23rd week in a row amid a heavy security presence, chanting anti-regime slogans.
Following the Friday prayers and sermons by Sunni leader of the city Mowlavi Abdolhamid, people held demonstrations chanting “We don’t want a child-killing regime.”
The outspoken cleric’s sermons contained fewer disparaging remarks about the regime compared with previous weeks, but he kept criticizing the ruling power for discrimination and bloody crackdown on dissent.
He said the country is in a deadlock in domestic and foreign policies, and called for fundamental change “according to people’s demands.” “The problems will not be solved until the rights of minorities, women and youth are respected," he noted.
Abdolhamid described "national interests, security and freedom of all Iranians and justice for all throughout Iran" as the basic priorities of the country.
He also touched on the issues specific to the people of the province, such as lack of drinking water and the government not issuing identification documents for people residing there.
Forces under the command of the Revolutionary Guard have killed well over 100 people in the Baluch-populated region since September 30 when the bloodiest crackdown took place in Zahedan.
The Sunni people of the city of Galikesh in Golestan province, where there are also large Sunni Baluch communities living for decades, held gatherings in support of their Mowlavi (Imam), Mohammad-Hossein Gorgij, who has reportedly been put under house arrest.