Iraq The post-Saddam government installed after the
2003 invasion of Iraq has been responsible for systematic discrimination of
Sunni Muslims in
bureaucracy, politics, military, police, as well as allegedly massacring Sunni Muslim prisoners in a sectarian manner. The
De-Ba'athification policy implemented after the toppling of the Baathist regime has mostly been targeting Sunni civil servants, politicians and military officials; leading to anti-Sunni discrimination in the
bureaucracy and worsening of the sectarian situation in
Iraq. Many Sunnis were killed following the
2006 al-Askari mosque bombing during the
Iraqi civil war. International organizations like the
Human Rights Watch have condemned Iraqi government and Iran-backed militant groups of committing sectarian massacres against the Sunni minority in Iraq, stating that these atrocities constituted "
crimes against humanity".
Barwana massacre The massacre was allegedly committed by Shia militants, as a revenge for ISIS atrocities, in the Sunni village of Barwana, allegedly killing 70 boys and men.
Hay al Jihad massacre On 9 July 2006, in the
Hay al-Jihad area of
Baghdad, the capital of
Iraq, an estimated 40 Sunni civilians were killed in revenge attacks carried out by Shia militants from the
Mahdi Army.
Musab bin Umair mosque massacre On 22 August 2014, Shia militants killed at least 73 people in an attack on the Sunni
Mus`ab ibn `Umair mosque in the Imam Wais village of
Iraq, the attack occurred during the
Friday prayers, where many of the Sunnis were attending their prayers. At the time of the attack, there were about 150 worshippers at the mosque. The Iran-backed
Asaib Ahl al-Haq militant group, a splinter group of the
Imam Ali Brigades, are suspected to be the perpetrators.
Iran Since the
1979 Iranian Revolution, Sunnis in Iran have been systematically discriminated through sectarian policies and treated as second-class citizens by the Iranian government. Sunni-majority provinces in Iran are neglected by the regime, leading to socio-economic disenfranchisement and high rates of poverty.
Khomeini had held anti-Sunni religious views, which was also reflected in the geo-political strategy he outlined in his "
Last Will and Testament". During the events of 1979 Revolution, Sunni-majority cities in
Khuzestan,
Western Azerbaijan and
Golestan provinces were targets of sectarian attacks by Khomeinist militants. Many Sunni religious leaders and intellectuals who had initially backed the revolution were imprisoned during the 1980s. Political discriminations have since been normalized, with Sunnis being denied representation in government bodies such as the
Guardian Council and the
Expediency Council which are reserved for the Shias. It has also been argued that Sunnis are marginalized by the Iranian
Majlis, with less than 6% of the seats being permitted for Sunnis since the establishment of the parliamentary body in 1980; the percentage of
Sunnis in Iran is usually estimated to be 5-10%, but some Sunni leaders have claimed it to be "between 12 and 25 percent". After Khomeini's death in 1989,
Iran began publicly exporting Anti-Sunni rhetoric through
propaganda and
Khomeinist media outlets across the
Islamic World, in increasing proportions particularly since the 2000s. Sunnis in Iran are also subject to systematic discrimination by the government. Ethnic minorities that are predominantly Sunni, such as the
Kurds,
Balochs, and
Turkmens suffer the brunt of religious persecutions and numerous
Masajid (mosques) of these communities are routinely destroyed by the regime's police and paramilitary forces. In spite of the presence of 10 million Sunni inhabitants in
Tehran, the regime has also banned the presence of Sunni mosques in the city, leading to widespread discontent. Many Sunni clerics have been assassinated by deathsquads affiliated with the Iranian regime. In 2007, government tightened restrictions on Sunni religious schools and universities; and forced Sunni religious students to study in Khomeinist institutes. In 2011, Iran imposed restrictions that blocked Sunni Muslims from holding their own separate
Eid prayers at the city of
Tehran. Discrimination against Sunnis had increased since 2021, due to authoritarian policies of hardline Former President
Ibrahim Raisi. In a brutal massacre known as "
Bloody Friday" conducted in September 2022,
IRGC and
Basij forces opened fired and killed over 90 Sunni protesters during ''
Jumu'ah'' prayers near
Jameh Mosque of Makki in
Sistan-Balochistan, the largest Sunni mosque in Iran. Some worshippers had gone out of the mosque and marched on the police station across the street in protest against the recent alleged rape of a Baloch girl by a policeman, throwing stones and molotov cocktails; the security forces responded with fire and continued to shoot at the worshippers as some of them retreated back into the mosque. As of October 2022, the massacre is the deadliest incident that occurred as part of the military crackdown on
2022 Iranian protests.
Molwi Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi, popular Baloch
Islamic scholar and spiritual leader of Iran's
Sunni Muslim minority, who led the prayers, denounced the regime for the massacre and its "absolute lies" stereotyping the regular Sunni worshippers as Baloch separatists. In an unusual speech condemning
Ali Khamenei and
Iranian army for the violence and bloodshed, Abdul Hamid declared: "The
supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, as the commander-in-chief of the
armed forces, as well as other officials are all responsible, and no one can evade this responsibility.." In May 2023 alone, Iran executed at least 142 individuals (78, or 55% of them, on drug-related charges), its highest monthly rate since 2015. At least 30 of those executed were from the
Sunni Baluch minority. ==See also==