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.