TEHRAN -- The Iranian intelligence minister on Saturday cautioned against the occupying regime of Israel’s plot to create ethnic and religious division in Iran in order to divert attention from its own crimes.
In comments in the southern city of Shiraz, Esmail Khatib said the recent stabbing attack at the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) in the northeastern city of Mashhad indicated that religious sites are favorite targets for takfiri terrorists.
The intelligence minister said plots to incite ethnic and religious division among Shia and Sunni Muslims or other ethnic groups are hatched with the aim of drawing attention away from the Zionist regime’s crimes.
He warned the occupying regime of Israel is attempting to create new security challenges in Iran by using media and technological tools.
The minister stressed the need for vigilance among clerics, elites and ordinary people to thwart hostile plots.
“The Zionist regime is trying to play the role of the gendarme in the region with support from the global arrogance and the partnership of a number of Arab countries,” Khatib said.
An Afghan national with takfiri beliefs stabbed three clergymen at the shrine of the eighth Shia Imam in Mashhad on April 5, martyring one and injuring two others.
The second injured cleric succumbed to his wounds at a local hospital in Mashhad on Thursday.
The attacker, 21, was identified as Abdullatif Muradi. He had reportedly entered Iran illegally from Pakistan a year ago before residing in Mashhad.