Sufism has a noticeable and ancient presence in Iran. It was with the help of the Sufis, during the Safavid period, that Shiite clerics were able to become present and active in Iran. Today, however, Sufis and mysticism and spiritual tendencies are under pressure and are suffering persecution, mostly triggered by Shiite clerics.

Since the Islamic Revolution, Sufis have come under pressure from the Iranian government. Sufi elders have been charged and convicted with disturbing public order and taking action against national security. Approximately two years ago, Hamid Reza Moradi and Mostafa Daneshjoo, two Sufi lawyers and the administrators of the popular Mazjooban Noor website, which covered news of the Nematollahi-Gonabadi Sufi order, were sentenced to 10 years and 7 years, respectively. According to reports, both Moradi and Daneshjoo are seriously ill and have been deprived of proper medical treatment. 

Sufism — or mysticism — is an Islamic doctrine, an ascetic way of life rooted in Sharia, which aims to purify the soul and abandon earthly cares in hopes of getting closer to God and totalizing existence. Religions usually have an inner and outer aspect and often these two aspects contradict one another. Political Islam in Iran, headed by the clerics, is a clear example of exoteric Islam that is in opposition to the mystical tendencies inspired by spiritual analysis of the Sharia. Sufis’ lack of interest in exoteric Islam and religious rules has always been a point of conflict between the Sufis and the clerics.

One of the most serious clashes with the Sufis in Iran happened in 2006, in the city of Qom, when the religious center (Hussainia) belonging to the Ne'matollahi-Gonabadi order, one of the popular Sufi orders, was destroyed. The jurists in Qom created a negative atmosphere against the Sufis, distributing notices claiming that the Sufis are apostates, until finally the clerics were questioned regarding this issue. Afterward, there were attempts at deporting the Sufis from Qom and confiscating their religious center. Following these events, numerous members of the Ne'matollahi order traveled from all over Iran to Qom and held a few days of sit-in protests in the Shariat religious center and the streets surrounding it. Holding out flowers as well as the images of Dervishes martyred during the Iran-Iraq war and performing religious rituals, members of the order were trying to demonstrate their respect for peace, their commitment to religion and their loyalty to the Iranian revolution.