HRANA News Agency – According to the Religious Affairs Office in Kurdistan province, the trustees of mosques have no right to Dismissal and Employment of the prayers or hold Koran classes without the approval of the Great Islamic Center. The Great Islamic Center deals with Sunni people’s religious affairs and is a governmental institution that operates under the supervision of representatives of the Supreme Leader.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), Islamic Affairs Department in the cities of Kurdistan has sent an order to the board of trustees of mosques in the province in order to inform them that they did not have any authority to choose Imam for their mosques.
The text of the directive states: “According to the decisions of the Council of Mosques, determining Imams of mosques should be done by the Great Islamic Center. Therefore, before any dismissal, reinstate or appointing an Imam of a mosque, it should be coordinated with the Great Islamic Center. If there is any movement, the Imam reinstated without coordination with the center and the respected board of Trustees have the responsibilities of the consequences and considering the influence of the unbeliever groups, Salafies, Wahhabis, Ekhvanies, and so on, on the mosques in the form of Quran lessons, it is necessary that the applicants for Quran classes, interpretation and Islam rulings lessons have a written confirmation from the Great Islamic Center and from city clerical council. Otherwise it is forbidden to hold any classes”.
It is noteworthy that, a large number of Sunni preachers are right now kept in inappropriate conditions in the country prisons with heavy prison sentences, and some of them have been sentenced to death and some of them have already been executed.