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    Published: 2022-12-28
    No. 26 (2022)

    Iranian Sunni Muslims and the 2021 Presidential Election: Paradigm Shift or Political Compromise?

    Hessam Habibi Doroh
    Christianity-World-Politics
    Section: Miscellanea
    https://doi.org/10.21697/CSP.2022.26.1.14

    Abstract

    In 2018, Iran saw a series of popular uprisings, with particularly notable discontent among the Sunni minority in Iran’s peripheries. Approaching the 2021 presidential election, as Iranian Sunnis’ preferred candidates were disqualified by the state, the risk of Sunni violence intensified. However, their political allegiance shifted, leading to widespread support for Ebrahim Raisi, a Shia hardliner cleric. This paper examines the Sunnis’ role in this election, demonstrating how religious actors and institutions were mobilizing factors in the political campaign. During the campaign, Sunni elites focused exclusively on the allocation of power to specific elite groups, ignoring ordinary Sunnis’ demands to address inequality. The entire process illustrates the flexibility of Iranian Sunnis’ political decision-making and their ability to reach agreements. As such, I conclude the Sunnis’ change of allegiance is better understood as political compromise rather than an epochal paradigm shift.

    Keywords:

    Iran, Sunni, Shia, minority groups, geopolitics, elections

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    Citation rules

    Doroh, H. H. (2022). Iranian Sunni Muslims and the 2021 Presidential Election: Paradigm Shift or Political Compromise?. Christianity-World-Politics, (26), 319–339. https://doi.org/10.21697/CSP.2022.26.1.14

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