News reports are saying that Sunni worshipers who had gathered outside a prayer hall in Tehran's eastern Resalat neighborhood were dispersed by the police and barred from entering the venue to hold communal prayers on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, commemorating Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son as God had commanded. Sources affiliated with Sunni activists say an official permit for the gathering had been obtained from Interior Ministry officials and the Tehran governorate's political deputy.

Eyewitnesses who had planned to participate confirmed the accuracy of the reports to Al-Monitor, adding that there had been no use of force by the security forces and that the crowd had left the area peacefully. Iran, including the capital, is predominantly Shiite, and the Sunni minority has long complained of marginalization and state control.

The Sunni residents of the capital, mainly from the border provinces of Sistan-Baluchistan, Kurdistan and Golestan, say they have struggled for years to be able to conduct prayers in their own mosques. According to state media, there are at least nine "mosques" used by Tehran's Sunni population, but Sunni activists say that they are not allowed to build houses of worship incorporating conventional Islamic architecture featuring two minarets and a dome.

The lack of official permits has, therefore, left them with no option but prayer halls, usually spacious apartments, parking lots and other large spaces. Worshippers gather there for communal Friday prayers as well as for Islamic holidays, such as Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.