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zamakhtar t1_j3y7epp wrote

Sunnis in Iran were seen as a fifth column who might ally with the Ottomans should they invade Iran. The Ottomans were also putting down Shia rebellions in their own territory, and increasingly emphasizing their position as a specifically Sunni Muslim state. But because Iran was majority Sunni, brutal methods were used to quickly convert the population to Shia Islam to secure it against the Ottoman threat.

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