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Significance
This reminder of the country’s past religious diversity belies the strong dominance of the Shia religious establishment. President Hassan Rouhani has repeatedly promised to address the needs of religious minorities but has done little in practice. Since protests in early 2018, attacks have intensified, especially on Sufis.
Impacts
The space for civil society engagement will narrow, as the government steps up monitoring of NGOs.
Sunnis will face significant pressure and surveillance to prevent Islamic State (IS) or Saudi infiltration.
Rouhani will not make good on campaign pledges to appoint religious minorities to cabinet posts.
Keywords:
Iran,
ME/NAF,
Iraq,
Saudi Arabia,
politics,
social,
government,
opposition,
protest,
religion,
security
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2018
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