Global NewsIran Hangs Extremist over Murdering Shiite Clerics

Iran Hangs Extremist over Murdering Shiite Clerics

-

- Advertisment -spot_img

Iran on Monday hanged a Sunni extremist who was sentenced to death for killing two Shiite clerics and leaving wounded another in early April, the judiciary said.

A 21-year-old national of Uzbek origin carried out the April 5 stabbing attack at the Imam Reza shrine which honours one of the most revered figures in Shiite Islam.

The killings happened during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when large crowds of worshippers had gathered at the shrine, in Iran’s second-largest city Mashhad.

“The death sentence against Abdolatif Moradi was carried out by hanging this morning, in the presence of a group of citizens and officials in Vakilabad prison in Mashhad,” said provincial judiciary chief Gholamali Sadeghi, quoted by the judiciary’s website Mizan Online.

The assailant “was accused of moharebeh (‘war against God’, in Persian) using a weapon to terrorise the population in the shrine and even outside it,” Sadeghi added.

The assailant stabbed one of the victims 20 times, Tasnim news agency reported earlier.

On June 7, the judiciary announced Moradi’s death sentence, adding that his lawyer had appealed to the Supreme Court.

According to local media, Moradi entered Iran illegally a year earlier from Pakistan and settled in Mashhad, the country’s main holy city.

Read Also: One Shot Dead, 2 Injured in Alabama Church

Iranian leaders blamed “takfiri elements” for the attack. The term takfiri in Iran and in several other countries refers to radical Sunni Islamist groups.

One of the clerics, Mohammad Aslani, died immediately while the death of the second, Sadegh Darai, was announced two days later.

The attack came days after two Sunni clerics were shot dead outside a seminary in the northern Iranian town of Gonbad-e Kavus.

The three suspects in that case, also Sunnis, were arrested in late April but were said to have “no connection with terrorist groups”, state media reported at the time.

Sunnis make up between five and 10 percent of Shiite-majority Iran’s population of 83 million people.

Iran last year recorded its highest annual execution total in four years, rights group Amnesty International said last month.

In an annual report it said Iran executed at least 314 people in 2021, up from 246 in 2020, largely because of drug-related cases.

newswebbs
newswebbshttps://newswebbs.com
New Webbs is an independent online news platform launched with the aim of connecting the world with the latest news on the web.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest news

Nigeria, ECOWAS Members, have Rare Minerals – Tuggar

Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, stated that the country and some members of the Economic Community of...

PenCom: Newspaper Owners Owe Journalists Over N720m Unpaid Pension Contributions

Abuja, Nigeria - The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has raised alarm over widespread non-compliance with the Pension Reform Act...

Nicolas Sarkozy: Former French president Loses Prestigious “Legion of Honour Award”

Following last year conviction of corruption and influence peddling, former France’ President, Nicolas Sarkozy has lost his Legion of...

Governor Soludo Calls for Progressive and Ethical Rebirth in Rebuilding Nigeria

AWKA, NIGERIA - On Nigeria's Democracy Day, Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, who delivered a thought-provoking speech...
- Advertisement -spot_imgspot_img

Akabanga Lagos Becomes Exclusive Distributor of Rwanda’s Iconic Chili Oil in Nigeria

LAGOS NIGERIA - Akabanga Lagos has officially become the sole distributor of Akabanga Chili Oil in Nigeria, following its...

SUNU Assurances Nigeria Plc Hosts 38th Annual General Meeting, Approves 2024 Dividend Payment

LAGOS, NIGERIA - SUNU Assurances Nigeria Plc, a member of SUNU Group has successfully hosted its 38th Annual General...

Must read

- Advertisement -spot_imgspot_img

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you