Iran politician calls for Sunni mosques to be built in Tehran

An Iranian politician has called on authorities to build mosques in the capital for the Shia-majority country's Sunni population.

Mohammad-Javad Haghshenas, a member of Tehran's city council, made the remarks on Sunday through his Twitter account.

"Having a respectable mosque that is proportional to the population of ours Kurds and Balouchi brothers in the capital… is not an unreasonable demand," Haghshenas said, referring to two predominantly Sunni ethnic groups.

"Close by... there is a mosque, church, synagogue and fire temple next to each other. We should be kinder to our brothers," Haghshenas said, according to a translation by Syrian news website Zaman al-Wasl.

He added that mosques should be built for Sunni Iranians in the capital to ensure members of the minority Islamic sect do not feel "discriminated against".

Rights groups have long called on Iranian authorities to allow Sunnis to gather and pray freely in Tehran.

Despite making up around 5 to 10 percent of the country's population of 80 million, there are no Sunni mosques in large cities, according to France 24.