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Assalamualaykum, I am a Sunni Muslim Pakistani of the Hanafi Madhab. I had originally signed up for Sunni Forum a while ago, but I did not get a confirmation email from them. Anyway, I have a couple of inquiries about Sunnis in Iran and Shiaism in general. From what I have heard from Iranian Sunnis of Persian origin living in my neighbourhood in Canada, I have gotten the impression that the Islamic Republic of Iran severely oppressed the Sunni population. I have also come to know that the Shias of Iran are not even religious due to the country's strict Islamic laws. As many as 90% of all Shias living in Iran are non-religious, and many have become murtads and followers of Christianity, agnosticism, Zoroastrianism, and Atheism. A few have even converted to Sunnism. The majority of what I know is based on what I have read from the Sons of Sunnah website, which is a Sunni Iranian website. Also, I have read about how Iranian Shiism is like Zoroastrianism, and has Zoroastrian influences such as Nowruz, Omar Koshan etc. Now, I have nothing against Shias, and I have a lot of respect for Ahlul Bayt. Furthermore, I do not consider Muawiyya a righteous dude based on what I have read about him from Sunni sources. However, I have seen some strange things about Shiaism on Rafidi Terminator's YouTube channel, and some of the stuff has shocked me. Adding on, I have a couple of Iranian Shia friends, who are practicing Muslims, but not hardcore Shias. In fact, a friend of mine who came to Canada two years ago has told me that living here has changed his perspectives about Islam, and he is no longer as religious as he used to be. Could someone please answer my inquiries, especially about the oppressive nature of Iran's regime towards Sunnis. Thank you, I just joined these forums today.