TEHRAN – President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday directed the intelligence ministry to identify and arrest all elements behind a stabbing attack at the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) in Mashhad that took the life of a clergyman and left two others injured.
“Certainly, this unfortunate incident, which was carried out by one of the deviant elements and under the influence of the American takfiri groups, will cause more unity and cohesion among those interested in Islam and the Islamic Iran, and will lead to the disgrace of the deviant currents,” he said in a message.
“The Ministry of Intelligence, in cooperation with all institutions, is obliged to immediately identify and prosecute all the perpetrators of this incident and to inform the public about the result,” Raisi added.
Separately, President Raisi cautioned that the enemies are resorting to ethnic and religious issues to incite division among neighbors.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Raisi praised the three clergymen attacked in the incident for their sincere voluntary work and effective service.
“The colonialists and hypocrites should not be allowed to exploit ethnic and religious affairs to create division among Muslims and between the people of our country and neighbors.”
Mashhad prosecutor Muhammad Hussein Darroudi described the assailant as a foreign national. He said four other suspects were arrested in connection with the case.
Iranian media identified the cleric who was martyred as Muhammad Aslani.
Graphic video from the scene that was shared on social media showed two men splayed on the shrine’s gray marbled floor covered with blood. IRNA news agency posted a video of police arresting the assailant.
The attack happened on the third day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan that draws Muslim worshipers to communal prayers at mosques across the country.
The Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, some 900 kilometers (560 miles) northeast of the capital Tehran, is the largest complex housing a tomb in Iran and its most visited. The shrine draws about 20 million people a year, mostly Iranians and pilgrims from neighboring nations like Iraq and Pakistan.
Such violent acts at the holy shrine are rare. However, one of the biggest terrorist attacks in Iranian history occurred at the shrine in 1994. At the time, the government held the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization responsible for the bombing that martyred over two dozen people.