Attacks On Iranian Clerics Has Increased: Report

Attacks on Iranian clerics have increased in recent years in the country, according to a report by Iranian daily Radio Farda. Iran has reported several incidents of physical attacks on clerics, and many religious leaders are afraid of wearing their robes or turbans in public as they are being targeted.

Shockingly, two-dozen clerics were violently attacked in the past decade in the country, out of which, three were killed and two were blinded. Reportedly, low-level clerics who have attempted to enforce strict religious codes in the country such as the Hijab rule are being targeted.

Many people in the country can no longer tolerate clerics who impose their reactionary lifestyle on others. Some people are angry over suffocating restrictions in their life.

Tehran-based dissident cleric Abolfazl Najafi-Tehrani told Radio Farda, “In recent years, we have witnessed people’s hatred and anger towards those clerics who follow state policies.”

The country has also suffered because of the dire economic conditions. According to Najafi-Tehrani, people want the withdrawal of the clerics and the noninterference of religion and religious representatives in the country.

Recently, hundreds of people protested water shortages in the central Iranian province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari. They also slammed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Protesters reportedly chanted, "Death to Raisi.”

Dozens of protests have been held across the country in recent months over deteriorating living conditions and the interference of cleric leaders. As a sign of the rising anger, physical attacks against clerics have been increasing in the country. Amid the economic crisis, public anger against clerics has also grown.

Earlier, a woman assaulted a cleric in the holy Shi'ite city of Qom when he warned her about her Hijab. The video of the incident went viral last year. In July this year, a young cleric was stabbed several times in Karaj, the capital of Alborz Province, Iran.