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Two hardline Iranian clerics shot dead at Supreme Court complex in capital Tehran

Jan 19, 2025 11:38 AM IST

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a message, offered his condolences for the “martyrdom” of both judges.

Two prominent Iranian hardline clerics were shot dead by a man in Tehran on Saturday, who later died by suicide by shooting himself dead. One of the bodyguards of the clerics was also injured in the attack at the Palace of Justice in the capital city.

Members of the police stand in front of the judiciary building after the assassination of the Supreme Court Judges Mohammad Moghiseh and Ali Razini in Tehran, Iran, January 18, 2025.(via REUTERS)
Members of the police stand in front of the judiciary building after the assassination of the Supreme Court Judges Mohammad Moghiseh and Ali Razini in Tehran, Iran, January 18, 2025.(via REUTERS)

The attacker was allegedly armed with a handgun. Iran's state media, IRNA, reported that the deceased, clerics Mohammad Mogheiseh and Ali Razini, served in the country's Supreme Court.

No group has claimed responsibility for the high-profile attack.

“According to initial investigations, the person in question did not have a case in the Supreme Court, nor was he a client of the court branches. Currently, investigations have been launched to identify and arrest the perpetrators of this terrorist act,” AP reported, citing the judiciary's Mizan news agency.

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Asghar Jahangir, a spokesman for Iran’s judiciary, said that the shooter had been an “infiltrator,” suggesting he had worked at the courthouse complex where the killings took place.

“In this regard, some individuals were identified, summoned or arrested, and investigations of them have begun,” he added.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a message, offered his condolences for the “martyrdom” of both judges.

Controversial past

The deceased allegedly took part in the 1988 mass execution of dissidents in 1998. The killings mark a rare attack on the country's high-profile judicial figures amid a shadow war with Israel and economic struggles inflicted by Western sanctions.

Razini was targeted in an assassination attempt in 1999 for his alleged involvement in the 1988 executions. A group of attackers on a motorcycle threw explosives at his vehicle, leaving him wounded.

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Mogheiseh has been under US sanctions since 2019. The Treasury Department claimed that he had “overseen countless unfair trials, during which charges went unsubstantiated, and evidence was disregarded”. Washington also accused him of sentencing scores of journalists and internet users to lengthy prison terms. He is also alleged to have targetted the country's Baha’i minority "after they reportedly held prayer and worship ceremonies with other members.

Iran has never fully acknowledged the executions, apparently carried out on Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini’s orders. Critics have argued that other top officials were effectively in charge in the months before his 1989 death.

The Iranian Supreme Court has many branches throughout the country. It is the highest court in Iran and can hear appeals of decisions made by lower courts.

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