Cleric Shot Dead; Zanjan Seminary: Shooter is 'Expelled from One of the Agencies'

A cleric was shot dead in the city of 'Sujas' in Zanjan province with 'two bullets to the head.' According to the head of the Zanjan seminary, the shooter was 'expelled from one of the agencies.' Based on a report from the official news agency of the seminary, an individual shot 'five bullets' at Hojjat Etebar, the head of the 'Imam Sadiq' Qeydar seminary, at the main mosque of 'Sujas' on Wednesday, September 20, with 'two bullets hitting his head,' and one officer was also injured. The head of the Zanjan seminary stated that the shooter has been arrested. Attacks on clerics have increased in recent months in Iran. In May, judicial officials in Saveh reported an attack by an individual with a 'knife' on a cleric in that city, which resulted in injuries. Previously, a former representative of Ali Khamenei in Sistan and Baluchestan and a member of the Assembly of Experts was shot dead in a bank in Babolsar, Mazandaran province, and another cleric was reportedly 'run over' in the Merzaran street in western Tehran. Additionally, the brother-in-law of Mahmoud Nabavian, a hardline cleric and representative of Tehran in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, who was introduced as the founder of the Mazandaran seminary, went missing. However, three days later, following the discovery of his body in the waters off Juybar, the Mazandaran seminary claimed in a statement that any possibility of 'assassination' of this individual was 'ruled out.' Following the increase in physical confrontations with Shia clerics in recent months, some government figures have attributed it to 'enemies,' while some religious figures have linked it to the behavior of the government. In response to these reports, Ali Fallahian, a former Minister of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic, stated: 'I told the Friday prayer leaders that neglecting protection is very dangerous, and now after this incident, I suggest that Friday prayer leaders learn self-defense and know that the enemy does not neglect.' Mohammad Javad Alavi Borujerdi, a seminary instructor, also addressed government officials and clerics, stating: 'The distance between the people and the clergy has increased, and this growing distance and distrust will have bad consequences.' During the nationwide protests in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police, protest movements, including 'turbans being thrown,' emerged among protesters in reaction to the role of Shia clerics in creating the situation in Iran.