Abstract
In recent decades, Sunni Muslims in Iran (estimated at 8–10% of the total population) have sought to reconfigure their status by creating a political bloc that crosses the ethnic, regional, tribal, and other differences that have previously divided them. This chapter will examine how Sunni sectarian entrepreneurs in Iran have used the framework of the Islamic Republic to achieve this, essentially using Iranian national identity and the failure of the state to live up to its ideals to foster a shared sense of community among the diversity of Iranian Sunni societies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmadi, Hamid. 2016. Qowmiyat van qowm-garāyi dar irān: Afsāneh va vāqeʿiat [Ethnicity and Ethnicism in Iran: Myth and Reality]. Tehran: Nashr-e Ney.
Akbarzadeh, Shahram, Zahid Shahab Ahmed, Costas Laoutides, and William Gourlay. 2019. The Kurds in Iran: Balancing National and Ethnic Identity in a Securitised Environment. Third World Quarterly 40 (6): 1145–1162.
Alijani, Ershad. 2015. Tehran’s Authorities Destroy Sunni Worship Space. France24, August 6. Accessed June 22, 2018. http://observers.france24.com/en/20150806-iran-islam-mosque-shia-sunni-religion.
Baluchzehi, Samieh. 2015. Shāyad avvalin-e raʾis-e jomhur-e zan-e irān shavam [Maybe I will be the First Female President of Iran], Jam-e Jam, February 8. Accessed July 2, 2018. http://jamejamonline.ir/sara/1825244095186945992.
Barinha. 2013. Aks: Dokhtar-e 26 sāleh, avvalin shahrdār-e zan-e Baluch [Photographs: 26-Year-Old Woman, the First Female Baluch Mayor]. Barinha, December 30. Accessed June 4, 2015. http://www.bartarinha.ir/fa/news/83850/.
Barry, James. 2019. Armenian Christians in Iran: Ethnicity, Religion and Identity in the Islamic Republic. London: Cambridge University Press.
BBC Persian. 2014. Mowlavi ʿabdolḥamid barā-ye khoruj az irān bā maḥdudiyat movajeh shod [Molavi Abdolhamid Confronted with Travel Restrictions against Leaving Iran]. BBC Persian, June 18. Accessed July 5, 2018. http://www.bbc.com/persian/iran/2014/07/140718_u14_molavi_travel_ban.
———. 2016. Soni-hā-ye irān va moshkel-e eḥdāṣ-e masjed [Iran’s Sunnis and the Problem of Construction of a Mosque]. BBC Persian, October 30. Accessed September 28, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-features-37817273.
———. 2017. Gheibat-e rahbarān-e ahl-e sonat-e irān dar marāsem-e taḥlif-e ḥasan-e ruḥāni [Absence of the Leader of Iran’s Sunni Community from Hasan Rouhani’s Inauguration Ceremony]. BBC Persian, August 6. Accessed July 5, 2018. http://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-40845196.
Bordbar, Behdad. 2014. Iranian Sunni Cleric Says Government Asked for Help to Free Soldiers. Al Monitor, April 13. Accessed September 28, 2017. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/04/iran-interview-molavi-abdolhamid.html.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Brubaker, Rogers. 2004. Ethnicity Without Groups. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Centre for Human Rights in Iran. 2017. Former MP Urges Iranian Government to “Trust” and Allow Sunnis to Run for President. Center for Human Rights in Iran, April 21. Accessed September 27, 2017. https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2017/04/former-mp-urges-iranian-government-to-trust-and-allow-sunnis-to-run-for-president/.
Deutsche Welle. 2015a. Ahl-e sonat-e irān rā vādār beh eṭāʿat az vali-ye faqih mikonand [The Sunnis of Iran Forced to Obey the Supreme Leader]. Deutsche Welle Persian, July 23. Accessed July 4, 2018. https://www.dw.com/fa-ir/%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%84-%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%AA-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D9%88%D9%84%DB%8C-%D9%81%D9%82%DB%8C%D9%87-%D9%85%DB%8C%DA%A9%D9%86%D9%86%D8%AF/a-18602860.
———. 2015b. Takhrib namāz-khāneh-e ahl-e sonat dar manṭaqeh-e punak-e tehrān [Destruction of a Sunni Prayer House in the Tehran district of Pounak. Deutsche Welle Persian, July 30. Accessed September 28, 2017. https://www.dw.com/fa-ir/%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%A8-%D9%86%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%84-%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%AA-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%82%D9%87-%D9%BE%D9%88%D9%86%DA%A9-%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86/a-18617271.
Dorsey, James. 2015. Soccer Riots Reflect Long-Standing Discontent in Iran’s Predominantly Arab Khuzestan. Huffington Post, March 21. Accessed April 28, 2015. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-dorsey/soccer-riots-reflect-long_b_6917642.html.
Dudoignon, Stéphane. 2017. The Baluch, Sunnism and the State in Iran: From Tribal to Global. London: Hurst & Company.
Elling, Rasmus Christian. 2013. Minorities in Iran: Nationalism and Ethnicity After Khomeini. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
———. 2015. Tribal Hands and Minority Votes: Ethnicity, Regionalism and Elections in Iran. Ethnic and Racial Studies 38 (14): 2534–2550.
Entekhab. 2015. Enteṣāb-e avvalin safir-e kord-e ahl-e sonat [Appointment of the First Sunni Kurdish Ambassador]. Entekhab, September 16. Accessed July 5, 2018. http://www.entekhab.ir/fa/news/226088/.
Erdbrink, Thomas. 2017. Iran Kills ‘Mastermind’ of Terrorist Attacks as Inquiry Focuses on Kurds. New York Times, September 26. Accessed June 11, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/11/world/middleeast/iran-kurds-terrorist attacks.html?mcubz=1&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Middle%20East&action=keypress®ion=FixedLeft&pgtype=article.
Esma’ilzahi, Abdolhamid. 2021. Nāmeh-ye mowlavi-ye ʿabdolḥāmid beh rahbari [Molavi Abdolhamid’s Letter to the Leader]. Ensaf, January 6. Accessed on September 6, 2021. http://www.ensafnews.com/276530/%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87%E2%80%8C%DB%8C-%D9%85%D9%88%D9%84%D9%88%DB%8C-%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%B1%D9%87%D8%A8%D8%B1%DB%8C/.
Esmailzahi, Abdolhamid. 2017a. Molavi Abdolhamid, ‘Akṣar-e ahl-e sonat bā vojud-e gelāyeh-hā beh ruḥāni tamāyol dārand [Most Sunnis Prefer Rouhani Despite Some Complaints]. Radio Farda, May 13. Accessed September 28, 2017. https://www.radiofarda.com/a/f7-abdulhamid-on-possible-support-of-rouhani/28486280.html.
———. 2017b. Molavai Abdolhamid, ‘Jā-ye ahl- sonat dar kābineh khāli ast [Sunnis are Missing from the Cabinet]. Rah-e Sabz, August 10. Accessed September 28, 2017. http://www.rahesabz.net/story/74070/.
———. 2017c. Matn-e n āmeh-e mowlavi-ye ʿabdolḥamid beh rahbar-e enqelāb [Text of Molavi Abdolhamid’s Letter to the Leader of the Revolution]. Fararu, September 7. Accessed July 4, 2018. https://fararu.com/fa/news/328616/.
Farda News. 2017. Didār-e mowlavi ʿabdolḥamid bā ẓarif [Molavi Abdolhamid’s Meeting with Zarif]. Farda News, May 2. Accessed September 28, 2017. http://www.fardanews.com/fa/news/719809.
Fars News. 2014. Ostāndār-e sistān va baluchestān dar neshasti bā ḥożur-e marzbānān-e rubudeh shodeh [Governor of Sistan and Baluchistan Meets with Kidnapped Border Guards]. FarsNews, April 6. Accessed July 5, 2018. https://www.farsnews.com/news/13930117001317/.
———. 2015 Elat-e vāqeʿi-ye basteh shodan-e namāz-khāneh-e ahl-e sonat dar punak-e tehrān chist? [What is the Real Reason for the Closing of the Sunni Prayer House in Tehran?]. Fars News, January 27. Accessed September 28, 2017. https://www.farsnews.com/news/13931028001012.
Guirguis, Laure. 2017. Copts and the Security State: Violence, Coercion and Sectarianism in Contemporary Egypt. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Haddad, Fanar. 2020. Understanding ‘Sectarianism’: Sunni-Shi’a Relations in the Modern Arab World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hashemi, Nader, and Danny Postel. 2017. Introduction: The Sectarianization Thesis. In Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East, ed. Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel, 1–22. London: Hurst & Company.
Holliday, Shabnam. 2011. Defining Iran: Politics of Resistance. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate.
Hovsepian-Bearce, Yvette. 2016. The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader. New York: Routledge.
Jalali, Seyed Sa’id, and Mohammad Nabi Ebrahimi. 2014. Amniyat-e Dakheli-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran va ta’sir va ta’sir-e ehzab-e salafi-takfiri-ye kordestan-e eraq va kordestan-e iran (ba ta’kid bar tahavelat-e akhir-e eraq) [Internal Security in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Influence and Impacting Factors of Salafi-Takfiri of Iraqi Kurdistan and Iranian Kurdistan (With Emphasis on Recent Changes in Iraq)]. Ministry of the Interior of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Report, August–September (Shahrivar) 2014. Accessed September 26, 2017. http://moi.ir/Portal/File/ShowFile.aspx?ID=660d97d1-63fd-4d7a-9b8e-edfd4ed081c6.
Jalalizadeh, Jalal. 2005. Unrest in Iran’s Kurdish Region Has Left 17 Dead; Hundreds Have Been Wounded. The New York Times, August 14. Accessed September 26, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/14/world/middleeast/unrest-in-irans-kurdish-region-has-left-17-dead-hundreds.html.
———. 2021. Aqvām va maẕāheb rā moft-o-majāni naforushid [Don’t Sell the Ethnic and Religious (Minorities) for Free]. Telegraph May 7. Accessed May 8, 2021. https://telegra.ph/%D8%A7%D9%82%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%88%D9%85%D8%B0%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%A8-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D9%85%D9%81%D8%AA-%D9%88%D9%85%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%86%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B4%DB%8C%D8%AF-05-07.
Jamaran. 2017. Didār-e mowlavi ʿabdolḥamid bā raʿis-e jomhur [Meeting of Molavi Abdolhamid with the President]. Jamaran, January 10. Accessed September 28, 2017. https://www.jamaran.ir/%D8%A8%D8%AE%D8%B4-%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1-11/153450-%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%88%D9%84%D9%88%DB%8C-%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%B1%D8%A6%DB%8C%D8%B3-%D8%AC%D9%85%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%B9%DA%A9%D8%B3.
Jam-e Jam. 2016. Yek namāyandeh-e ahl-e sonat beh hayāʿt-e raʿiseh-e majles rāh yāft [A Sunni MP Appointed to the Chairing Committee of the Parliament]. Jam-e Jam, May 29. Accessed July 5, 2018. http://jamejamonline.ir/online/2411178439240797691.
Khamenei, Ali. 2008. Bayānāt dar dīdar-e mardom-e lār [Remarks in a Meeting with the People of Lar]. Khamenei.ir, May 8. Accessed September 27, 2017. http://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=3437.
———. 2011a. Bayānāt dar jamʿe-e rūḥānīyān-e shīʿeh va ahl-e sonat dar kermānshāh [Remarks at a Gathering of Shi’a Clerics and Sunnis in Kermanshah]. Khamenei.ir, October 12. Accessed September 27, 2017. http://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=17659.
———. 2011b. Bayānāt dar ejtemāʿ-e mardom pāveh [Remarks to the Community of Paveh]. Khamenei.ir, October 17. Accessed September 27, 2017. http://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=17608.
———. 2017. Pāsokh-e taʾamol-e angiz-e rahbar-e enqelāb beh marqumeh-e enteqādi-ye mowlavi-ye ʿabdolḥamid [The Supreme Leader’s Reflective Response to Molavi Abdel-Hamid’s Points of Criticism]. Tabnak, September 6. Accessed September 28, 2017. http://www.tabnak.ir/fa/news/727872/.
Malešević, Siniša. 2019. Grounded Nationalisms: A Sociological Analysis. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Mashregh News. 2015. Āyā shahrdāri-ye tehrān “masjed-e ahl-e sonat-e punak” rā takhrib kard? [Why did the Tehran Municipality Destroy “the Sunni Mosque of Pounak”?]. Mashregh News, August 6. Accessed September 28, 2017. https://www.mashreghnews.ir/news/449965/.
Matthiesen, Toby. 2015. The Other Saudis: Shiism, Dissent and Sectarianism. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Mehrara, Mohsen, Javad Pakdin, and Amir Nejad. 2009. Willingness to Pay for Drinking Water Connections: The Case of Larestan, Iran. Journal of Academic Research in Economics 1 (2): 183–194.
MehrNews. 2015. Tehran 9-e masjed-e ahl-e sonat darad/ masjed, motaʿaleq beh hameh mosalmānān ast [Tehran has 9 Sunni Mosques/ Mosques belong to all Muslims]. Mehr News, August 5. Accessed September 28, 2017. http://www.mehrnews.com/news/2876090.
Nazari, Hojjat. 2017. Eḥdāṣ-e masjed barā-ye ahl-e tasanon dar shahr-e tehrān [The Construction of a Mosque for the Sunni Community in Tehran]. Tasnim News, September 3. Accessed September 28, 2017. https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1396/06/12/1509029.
Parsa, Misagh. 2016. Democracy in Iran: Why It Failed and How It Might Succeed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Saham News. 2015. Jelogiri-ye maʾmurān az ḥożur-e ahl- sonat dar namāz-e jomʿeh-e hafteh-e vaḥdat [Officers Prevent Sunnis from Gathering for Friday Prayers during Unity Week]. Saham News, January 5. Accessed September 28, 2017. http://sahamnews.org/2015/01/273246/.
Saleh, Alam. 2013. Ethnic Identity and the State in Iran. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Shaffer, Brenda. 2002. Borders and Brethren: Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Shahi, Afshin, and Ehsan Abdoh-Tabrizi. 2019. The Shia State & the Socioeconomic Challenges of the Sunni Communities in Iran. In Sites of Pluralism Community Politics in the Middle East, ed. Firat Oruc, 87–113. London: Hurst & Company.
SunnatFeed. 2018. Eʿterāż-e frāksion-e ahl-e sonat beh eẓhārāt-e karimi-ye qodusi [Sunni Faction Protest the Remarks of Karimi Ghodousi]. SunnatFeed, March 5. Accessed July 5, 2018. http://sunnatfeed.com/news/57200.
Tehran Times Correspondents. 2001. Drinking Water Supply Disrupted in 275 Villages in Kermanshah. Tehran Times, July 21. Accessed September 27, 2017. http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/69013/Drinking-Water-Supply-Disrupted-in-275-Villages-in-Kermanshah.
———. 2017. Eight More Arrested over Tehran Terror Attacks. Tehran Times, June 10. Accessed September 27, 2017. http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/414144/Eight-more-arrested-over-Tehran-terror-attacks.
Voice of America. 2018. Enteqād-e mowlavi ʿabdolḥamid az mamnuʿiyat-e safar-e ruḥāniyān-e ahl-e sonat [Molavi Abdolhamid Protests against the Travel Bans on Sunni Clerics]. Voice of America, May 5. Accessed July 5. https://ir.voanews.com/a/iran-human-rights-justice/4381108.html.
Yilmaz, Ihsan, and James Barry. 2020. The AKP’s De-securitization and Re-securitization of a Minority Community: The Alevi Opening, and Closing. Turkish Studies 21 (2): 231–253.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Barry, J. (2023). Sectarianism and National Cohesion Sunni Political Activism in Iran. In: Hosseini, S.B. (eds) Ethnic Religious Minorities in Iran. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1633-5_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1633-5_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-19-1632-8
Online ISBN: 978-981-19-1633-5
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)