Last sunni mosque closes in Mashhad, Iran

MASHHAD (Web Desk) - The last Sunni prayer place in Mashhad, Iran has recently been closed, in what is seen by many as an act of state repression.

Sunni leader Muhammad Ibrahim told Al Arabiya that police had shut down Salman Farsi mosque, which was constructed at least 13 years ago.

Sunni Muslims in the Iranian capital have not been allowed to build or operate mosques since the 1979 revolution that brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei and his Vilayat-e Faqih political system that places the reins of government in the hands of a Shiite religious authority.

Because the Sunnis cannot operate official mosques in Tehran, Human Rights Watch noted, a Sunni council in Tehran has “established a system of namazkhanehs, or provisional prayer sites, to accommodate Sunni worshippers in Tehran province during Friday prayers and Eid holidays.”