TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian semi-official news agency is reporting that a member of a small religious minority set himself on fire next to the country’s parliament building.
ISNA’s late Saturday report says the man, a member of the Ahl Al-Haq, suddenly poured a bottle of fuel on his body and lit it. It said he was taken to hospital.
Iranian opposition websites have reported two other such self-immolations since June by Ahl al-Haq adherents following the alleged abuse of a group member in prison. Those reports couldn’t be independently verified.
Iran recognizes some non-Muslim minorities such as Zoroastrians, but others like the Baha’i complain of exclusion from state jobs, vilification in the media and other pressures.
The Ahl Al-Haq faith is found mostly among ethnic Kurds in both western Iran and Iraq.
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