Online protests as Iranian Zoroastrian councillor suspended

The suspension of Sepanta Niknam, an Iranian Zoroastrian councillor suspended on religious grounds, has polarised opinion among senior officials of the Islamic Republic and led to a campaign on social media calling for him to be reinstated.

#Sepanta_Niknam has been used more than 8,100 times on Twitter since the decision by a senior court ruling Niknam could not take his seat in Yazd, a Muslim majority city, despite winning election earlier this year.

Niknam is one of approximately 25,000 Zoroastrians living in Iran, a predominantly Shia Muslim country of 80 million residents, while Yazd is home to Iran's second-largest Zoroastrian community, after Tehran.

Some critics of his suspension pointed out the Iranian constitution recognises Zoroastrianism as a legal faith and allows Iranian Zoroastrians, Jews, Christians, Assyrians, Chaldeans and Armenians to each elect one MP to the national parliament.

Niknam was elected, with more than 21,000 votes, for a second successive term in May as one of the 11 members of the Yazd City Council.

A complaint was lodged by a losing conservative candidate in September on the grounds of Niknam's religion, arguing it was not in keeping with Iran's constitution for a member of a religious minority to make decisions on behalf of the whole population of a majority-Muslim city.

Iran's Administrative Court suspended Mr Niknam and refereed the matter to the Guardian Council, the country's powerful election watchdog, who agreed with the suspension.

One Guardian Council cleric told reporters the verdict was "definite".

However, Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran's parliament, said Mr Niknam's suspension was "illegal," promising to pursue the case.

Esfandiar Ekhtiari, a Zoroastrian MP, said the decision could "set a precedent", affecting "all future elections".