The Friday Prayer Imam of Kazeroun in southern Iran was fatally shot on Friday, as reported by IRNA News, marking the third such killing of the provincial town's top cleric since the Islamic revolution of 1979. Mohammad Sabahi succumbed to his injuries at Namazi Hospital in Shiraz despite medical intervention, Kazeroun's governor Mohammad Ali Bekhrad confirmed to IRNA on Friday evening, the anti-ayatollah outlet Iran International reported Saturday.
Video: Iranian cleric being shot by attacker in Iran's Kazeroun / Credit: Social Media
The shooting occurred after Friday prayers, according to IRNA, which notably avoided characterizing the death as martyrdom – a term typically reserved for deaths with political or religious significance in Iran.
Friday prayer imams, who are appointed by religious authorities under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's oversight, hold significant religious and political influence in Iranian communities. Initial reports about the incident were contradictory, with Iranian media first announcing Sabahi's death, then describing his condition as critical. The assailant reportedly took his own life following the attack.
Governor Bekhrad dismissed terrorism as a motive, suggesting to IRNA that personal grievances might have prompted the shooting. He indicated that investigations are ongoing. When news of the shooting emerged, claims on a popular Telegram channel that the attacker was a war veteran were quickly refuted by Mehdi Mazarei, head of Kazeroun's Martyrs Foundation, who warned against spreading misinformation.
Mizan News, affiliated with Iran's judiciary, reported that the assailant had a criminal history rather than military service. According to their report, the individual had previously attempted to attack a judge with explosives two decades ago, suffering self-inflicted injuries, and served six years in prison for bombing incidents in Gachsaran and other offenses, including weapon theft and bribery.
Before his appointment to Kazeroun in November 2019, Sabahi had served as Friday Imam of Kharameh in Fars province for ten years. The town of Kazeroun, with approximately 100,000 residents, has witnessed similar attacks before. In May 2019, Friday Imam Mohammad Khorsand was fatally stabbed after Ramadan prayers. The perpetrator, Hamid Reza Derakhshandeh, was executed within two months. In July 1981, another Friday Imam, Abdolrahim Daneshjou, was shot dead near his home after evening prayers, with state sources attributing the attack to MEK members, now an exiled opposition group in Albania.
