According to the Balochistan Human Rights Group, on Monday, May 19, 2025, Molavi Fathi Mohammad Naghshbandi, the Friday Imam of Rask County and a prominent and beloved Balochistan cleric, was granted a ten-day leave from Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad for the first time after twenty-one months of detention.
Molavi Fathi Mohammad Naghshbandi, the Friday Imam of Rask, was arrested by security forces on August 20, 2023, on the route from Rask to Chabahar due to his critical stance against the government. Despite his advanced age and illness, he has remained in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad for approximately twenty-one months.
On the day of his arrest, the IRGC intelligence and the Intelligence Department, in collaboration with Chabahar Oil Company officials, contacted Molavi Naghshbandi by phone, informing him that he needed to personally visit Chabahar to reactivate his family’s vehicle fuel quotas.
Following this call, Molavi Naghshbandi, accompanied by his son Mohammad—who was later released from Zahedan Prison on November 30, 2023—headed toward Chabahar. However, they were arrested with insults and humiliation by security forces at the Nobandian village police checkpoint.
In this regard, on November 25, 2024, the Telegram channel of Molavi Abdulghaffar Naghshbandi, the son of Molavi Fathi Mohammad Naghshbandi, announced that his father had been sentenced to five years in prison by the Special Clerical Court in Mashhad, with the sentence upheld by the Supreme Court.
It is noteworthy that earlier, following reports in February 2024 of Molavi Naghshbandi’s death in custody due to torture, psychological and physical pressure, and cardiac arrest, Balochistan became highly volatile. The public demanded transparency from judicial and security institutions regarding the cleric’s status. This led to a meeting on February 10, 2024, where a few influential Baloch individuals affiliated with security institutions were allowed to visit him in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad.
During that visit, Hafiz Mohammad Hossein Naghshbandi and Haji Mohammad Amin Naghshbandi, close relatives of the popular cleric who had traveled to Mashhad to meet him, were denied visitation.
Continued pressure from Balochistan’s public opinion on security and judicial institutions resulted in Molavi Fathi Mohammad Naghshbandi being allowed a brief phone call with his family on February 19, 2024, after approximately six months of no communication from the judiciary. Additionally, on September 9, 2024, the judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran permitted only Hafiz Ismail Naghshbandi, a close family member of Molavi Fathi Mohammad Naghshbandi, to visit him in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad.
BHRG
