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353225
Sat, 01/03/2015 - 07:19
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https://oananews.org//node/353225
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Yunesi: Sabians, legal religious minority in Iran, People of Book
Tehran, Jan 3, IRNA – Sabians, also known as Mandeans are People of the Book, followers of an authentic monotheist faith, and considered a legal religious minority in Iran, said President’s Special Adviser in Ethnic and Religious Minorities Affairs Ali Yunesi here Thursday.
“Sabians from Mandean tribe (followers of Prophet Yhyay) mainly live in Iran’s Khuzestan province and some parts of Iraq, and in Khuzestan they are known as Sabhis, but since there is not proper cognition about them among the ordinary folks sometimes they are referred to inappropriately,” said Hojjatoleslam Yunesi.
“The Sabians, like other religious minorities such as the Christians and the Jews, are respected in our country, and as you remember a while ago I condoled on demise of the leader of Sabian Mandeans, the late Genzorbra Jabbar Tavousi, and today to I once again condole with the Sabians that are present in this gathering on the demise of that revered religious personality,” he emphasized.
Genzorbra Chehili Tavousi, alias Sheik Jabbar Tavousi, the leader of Iranian Sabians, passed away on the morning of December 28, 2014, in Ahvaz, the capital city of Iran’s Khuzestan province.
Yunesi then answered some questions about the demands and complaints of religious and ethnic minorities in Iran, including one on Sunni Muslims’ demand to have mosques in some parts of the country, which was posed by Tehran University Professor Jalal Jalalizadeh.
“It is good to know for you, professor, that the number of Sunni mosques in Iran is in proportion to their population more than the Shi’a Muslims’ mosques proportionately, and yet, if they do not have mosques in one, or two district in certain cities and they complain about it, of course the government has to heed the matter so that its other countless services will not be questioned,” he said.
He all the same confirmed that in some rare occasions certain discriminations have occurred in dealing with religious and ethnic minorities in some provinces due to the ignorance of some local officials, none of which is approved by system officials nor should be considered as the Islamic Republic’s conduct.
“There are also some deficiencies regarding the rights of the ethnic and religious minorities, although during the decades after the Islamic Revolution many of them have been corrected, but more work is required in the field of text books, or the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) propagations, which will be resolved with the passage of time,” he said./end