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The Iranian authorities on Saturday overturned a ban put in place by an ultra-conservative council barring religious minorities from standing in municipal elections, paving the way for the re-election of Jews, Christians and members of the Zoroastrian minority.
was lifted after the Iranian authorities ruled that politician Sepanta Niknam, a member of the former Zoroastrian religion of Iran, had been unduly suspended from his post on the city council.
Niknam was the only non-Muslim elected to the council in the central city of Yazd in May 2017, but he was suspended by the Guardian Council, which oversees the elections, later in the year as a result of a complaint from one of his fellow advisers
. by parliament, but that did not prevent Niknam's suspension.
Saturday, Majid Ansari, a member of the Discernment Council who is responsible for resolving the dispute. "Today, the Discernment Council has ruled that the 1996 law on religious minorities is applicable and they can participate in council elections in their city," said Reporters Without Borders. He added that Niknam was now free to resume his position on Yazd City Council
. Iran officially recognizes the "Iranian, Jewish and Christian Zoroastrians" as religious minorities.
The national parliament has several members of religious minorities, including three Christians, a Zoroastrian and a Jew among its 290 deputies.
Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion in Persia, before the arrival of Islam, but only has about 25,000 adherents. today, according to government figures.
At the time of the Islamic Revolution of 1979, 80,000 to 100,000 Jews lived in Iran. About 20,000 Jews left after several months of the revolution and about 60,000 left in the following years, 35,000 in the United States, 20,000 in Israel and 5,000 in Europe.
The remaining Jewish community is estimated at fewer than 10,000 members. 19659002] (Staff with AFP)
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