Armed attack in southern Iran kills Sufi Sheikh and two followers

An armed attack on a Sufi Sheikh resulted in the deaths of two followers, with the Sheikh succumbing to his injuries on Thursday, according to Kurdish human rights sources.

The attack occurred at the Sufi lodge of Sheikh Azad in Saqqez on Wednesday night, resulting in the deaths of two men identified only by their first names, Peyman and Parviz.

The head of the Kordestan (Kurdistan) Province Judiciary stated that the attackers have been identified, and a judicial case has been filed. "Efforts are currently underway to apprehend them," Hossein Hosseini said.

Although Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam, is not illegal in Iran, rights groups accuse the Iranian government of systematic harassment and discrimination against its followers, including the Gonabadis, one of the largest Sufi sects. While the Gonabadi Dervishes identify as Shi'a Muslims, Iran’s Supreme Leader and other influential figures dismiss their beliefs as “false mysticism.” As a result, Amnesty International says Gonabadi Dervishes have been subjected to systematic discrimination and harassment, in spite of the sect not being deemed illegal as other minority religions are under the Islamic Republic.

The rights group has seen cases of arbitrary arrests and detentions, imprisonment, flogging sentences, and attacks on the group's sacred sites.

While the Abrahamic faiths, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, are legal under the Islamic Republic, according to the latest International Religious Freedom report by the US Department of State, Iran has persistently oppressed Sufis, extending its campaign of repression even to members of the community living abroad.