Iran’s Rouhani: Youth, women and minorities have valid concerns

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani admitted on Friday that the youth, women and minorities have legitimate grievances, Anadolu Agency reported, citing the Iranian presidency’s official website.

“Many of the complaints and concerns of the young, women and ethnic and religious groups are right and the government is fully determined to address them,” the Iranian president told a group of “Sunni clerics and intellectuals,” according to the presidential website.

“Any Muslim and Iranian must enjoy all their rights… Even in relation to non-Muslims who believe in the oneness of God, He orders understanding, unity and living together,” he added.

He stressed the need to enable the three categories to take a more effective role in running the country.

The Iranian president said that although people differ, they are equal as human beings.

Read: Rouhani warns that Iran’s people will deal with rioters

  At the same meeting, Abdul Rahman Birani, the secretary-general of the Sunni Dawa and Reform Group, said that justice can be reinforced if inequality and discrimination are eliminated.

Birani called on the Iranian authorities to end the restrictions imposed on Sunnis in government institutions, Anadolu Agency reported, citing the group’s website.

Citizenship rights that are listed in the Iranian constitution should be granted to Sunnis, Birani added.

There are approximately 15 million Sunnis living in Iran of a population of around 80 million, the majority live on border areas.

The Iranian authorities impose restrictions on some Sunni clerks and bar them from free movement. The authorities also ban the restoration and maintenance of Sunni mosques in some provinces, and they have blocked the construction of an official mosque for the Sunnis in the capital Tehran, according to Anadolu Agency.