Iranian Media Releases New Details on the Assassination of Mogheiseh and Razini

Iranian media, quoting the head of the Supreme Court, have released new details about the assassination of Mohammad Mogheiseh and Ali Razini, two Supreme Court judges. He claimed that the assailant was 'definitely an infiltrator' and had 'planned' the attack. On Tuesday, Bahman 1, in an interview with the Islamic Republic News Network, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri reconstructed the scene of the attack, stating that the assailant had obtained the weapon 'illegally' and 'in advance.' He confirmed that the assailant had no criminal record and had no case or ruling in the court. Mogheiseh and Razini were killed on Dey 29 by an individual identified by Tehran media as a 'service section employee' and 'tea boy' with ten years of experience at the courthouse. In his interview, the head of the Supreme Court said he was in the building that day and when he stepped out of his office and went downstairs, he saw Mogheiseh, who had been shot, collapsing in the hallway, dying after 'two movements of his hands.' Montazeri added that he was informed there that Razini had also been shot, and when he entered Razini's office, he found him fallen from his chair, having lost a lot of blood and died. According to him, the assailant had 'directly targeted Razini' and then shot Mogheiseh, who was in the same office. The head of the Supreme Court stated that he reached the assailant's side and saw that he had died from a gunshot wound to his heart. The Iranian judiciary, in its first statement after the judges' deaths, immediately labeled the assailant as an 'infiltrator' and stated that it could not yet discuss his motives. Meanwhile, the Iran newspaper reported on Tuesday, Bahman 2, that the '31-year-old tea boy shot six bullets from a pistol in 13 seconds, killing two judges and then himself.' According to this newspaper, the assailant 'has three sisters and lived with his parents.' Fars news agency also reported that a security guard was injured and transferred to the hospital, but it was unclear whether the injured person was a guard for the deceased judges or an armed guard of the building. Iranian media reported on Saturday that several employees were detained by the prosecutor's order during the evacuation of the courthouse following the attack. No news has yet been released regarding the results of the interrogations of these individuals, and it is unclear whether they remain in custody. Despite two days having passed since the judges' killings, no organization or group has claimed responsibility for the attack or indicated any connection to the assailant. Some Islamic Republic media have used the term 'hypocrite' to potentially link the assailant to the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, claiming that he had asked employees about the existence of cases against this opposition organization in the judiciary. Mohammad Mogheiseh and Ali Razini were known as 'notorious' judges due to their confirmation of numerous death sentences and long-term imprisonments. Besides the executions of the 1980s, they were responsible for many cases of detentions during political and social protests in the country. Mohammad Mogheiseh, alias 'Nasirian,' who was an interrogator and judge in Evin, Qezel Hesar, and Gohardasht prisons, was sanctioned by the U.S. and the European Union. Ali Razini was among the government judges in the trials leading to the executions of 1988, and he had previously survived an assassination attempt 16 years ago.