Sunni cleric Mamosta Mohammad Salehi sentenced to five years in prison

Hengaw — Sunday, December 28, 2025

Iranian judicial authorities have sentenced Mamosta Mohammad Salehi, a Kurdish Sunni cleric and imam of a mosque in the village of Kaltageh, Bukan County, to five years in prison. He is currently being held at Urmia Central Prison.

Information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights indicates that Salehi was recently convicted by Branch Two of the Urmia Revolutionary Court on charges of “membership in groups opposed to the system” (Ansar al-Sunna) and sentenced to five years of discretionary imprisonment.

According to the information, Salehi’s trial was held earlier this month after he spent nine months in legal limbo, during which his case remained unresolved.

Salehi was arrested on March 18, 2025, by government forces in the village of Kaltageh. He was initially transferred to the Intelligence Department detention facility in Urmia and, after two months, moved to Urmia Central Prison.

During his two months of detention at the Intelligence Department facility, Salehi was denied access to legal counsel and family visits.