Iran arrests 4 Sunni clerics, bans filmmaker from travel
Sunni clerics criticizing the Islamic Republic's heavy-handed response to protests were the latest to be placed in the crosshairs of the Iranian authorities, who are scrambling to crush the months-long unrest.
Iran's intelligence forces have arrested at least four Sunni clerics in Kurdistan and Sistan-Baluchistan provinces over the past 24 hours, according to multiple opposition news outlets.
In the Kurdish city of Sanandaj, two clerics identified as Ebrahim Karimi Nanala and Loqman Amini were detained and "taken to an unknown location," the Paris-based monitor, Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported on Monday.
As local imams, the two clerics had denounced the deadly clampdown on protests that have gripped Iran since mid-September, when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in custody of Iran's notorious morality police.
At least one of the clerics has been seen addressing memorials held in honor of protesters killed in Sanandaj, one of the flashpoint cities witnessing much of the unrest.
