Iran: death sentence for killer of prominent cleric

An Iranian court has sentenced a man to death for killing a prominent Shia cleric in the north of the country in April, the Mizan Online agency, which is affiliated with the judiciary, reported on Wednesday.

The unnamed 50-year-old man worked as an armed guard at a bank in the northern city of Babolsar where the incident took place. On 26 April, he shot dead 75-year-old Abbas-Ali Soleimani.

The guard received a “qisas” sentence, which is Iran’s Islamic law of retribution, the head of the judiciary authority in the province, Muhammad Sadeq Akbari, was quoted as saying. According to qisas, the sentence can be waived if the victim’s family chooses to forgive the criminal.

Fatal attacks on clerics in Iran are rare. A similar incident took place in April 2022, though, when a person stabbed two Shia clerics to death in the holy city of Mashhad.

Soleimani was a member of the Assembly of Experts, which is responsible for appointing the supreme leader, supervising his work and possibly dismissing him. He was the representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the imam of Friday prayers in a number of major cities across Iran.

READ: Bahrain Shia cleric released from jail following protests