His view about non-Muslims (if they obey a holy religion) is that they are not najis and they equally deserve to go to Paradise if they follow their religion sincerely.
Clear case of misinterpretation of what he means, exactly.

Strictly speaking, Zoroastrians aren't Ahl al-Kitab either, as they are not mentioned as such in the Qu'ran. However, Mehdi Karroubi and Ayatollah Montazeri had held a lot of respect for the Zoroastrians in Iran, and I'm sure Sane'i is no exception.