Kazeroon Friday Prayer Leader Shot and Killed

Media in Iran report the murder of Mohammad Sabahi, the Friday prayer leader of Kazeroon County in Fars Province, by gunfire. However, Mohammad Ali Bakhtiar, the governor of Kazeroon, despite initially confirming the news, stated in an interview with Iranian television that the Friday prayer leader is 'in the hospital and in very critical condition.' He also reported that the shooter committed 'suicide' immediately after shooting the Friday prayer leader. Hours after the initial news broke, the Mizan news agency quoted the prosecutor of Fars Province stating that Mohammad Sabahi 'died due to the injuries sustained.' This marks the third Friday prayer leader from Kazeroon to be murdered in the history of the Islamic Republic. Local officials, including the governor of Kazeroon, have suggested a 'personal motive' for the assassination, which occurred on Friday, November 4, after the Friday prayers in the city. Official information regarding the identity of the shooter and the motive for the assassination has not yet been released, but reports indicate that the Friday prayer leader was targeted by gunfire from the assailant. However, Mizan news agency later reported that 'the shooter has a criminal record and about 20 years ago, while intending to harm a judge, he strapped explosives to himself, which resulted in the loss of his limbs, and was subsequently sentenced to prison.' Mizan also reported that the shooter 'had been imprisoned for six years for bombings in the Gachsaran area, weapon theft, and bribery for keeping ammunition.' This news agency, operating under the judiciary, has not yet published any evidence regarding this matter. Previously, in June 2019, the then Friday prayer leader of Kazeroon, Mohammad Kharsand, was attacked with knives while returning from a religious ceremony during Ramadan and died shortly after. This city also witnessed the murder of its Friday prayer leader in the 1980s. In Ramadan of 1360, Abdul Rahim Daneshju, the Friday prayer leader of Kazeroon, was shot dead on his way home after the Maghrib and Isha prayers. Inside Iran, various narratives regarding the shooter's motives have emerged, and the 'Hamshahri' newspaper, affiliated with the Tehran municipality, claimed a day after the assassination of Mr. Soleimani that this murder stemmed from a dispute between a bank guard and the bank's deputy 'over work-related issues,' with the shooter stating that he mistook him for 'the brother of the cleric deputy of the bank.' Another narrative circulating on social media suggested that Soleimani had gone to the Bank Melli Babolsar to withdraw 3 billion and 400 million tomans in cash, and the bank's president informed him that this amount was not available. According to this account, Soleimani angrily declared that he had 420 billion tomans in this branch, and Captain Habibi, a retired police officer working contractually in the bank's security section, told his colleague, 'I didn't even have money to buy a dozen eggs last night,' and then a gunshot was heard. A video released from inside the bank showed the bank guard calmly approaching Mr. Soleimani, who was sitting in a chair, and shooting him from behind. People in the bank immediately apprehended the shooter, who did not resist. Iranian officials at that time also repeatedly stated that this assassination was not a 'terrorist' act. The killing of Abbas Ali Soleimani was part of a series of attacks on clerics in various cities in Iran and received widespread attention on social media. During the nationwide protests last year in Iran, protesters shouted harsh slogans against clerics, and based on videos that circulated, some protesters were seen throwing clerics' turbans off their heads in the streets, a protest movement known as 'turban throwing.' In Farvardin 1403, the public prosecutor of Mahshahr reported the killing of a cleric later identified as 'the deputy of the Mahshahr seminary' in that city in Khuzestan Province. In Ordibehesht 1402, Tehran police also reported that a 35-year-old cleric was 'run over by a car' on Marzdaran Boulevard in Tehran. Additionally, in Ordibehesht and Khordad 1402, reports emerged of attacks with 'cold weapons' on the Friday prayer leader of a village near Saveh and the prayer leader of the municipal retirement organization in Tehran.