TEHRAN -- The heads of the three branches of the Iranian government on Sunday called for swift action to identify and bring to justice all the perpetrators behind the assassination of senior Sunni cleric Molavi Abdulvahed Rigi in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province.
In a message of condolence, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi expressed his deep grief over the cowardly assassination of one of the prominent and popular Sunni clerics.
He urged security and police forces to immediately identify the perpetrators of the crime and bring them to justice.
In a Sunday message, Iranian Parliament speaker Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf expressed his condolences over Rigi’s assassination and said intelligence and security apparatus should immediately identify and punish the perpetrators of the crime.
He added that the prominent cleric played a leading role in thwarting enemies’ plots to sow discord among Shia and Sunni Muslims and promoting convergence among religions.
Meanwhile, Iranian Judiciary chief Gholamhussein Mohseni-Ejei ordered the judiciary chief of Sistan and Baluchestan Province to make serious efforts in cooperation with intelligence, security and police forces to identify and arrest those who carried out the assassination against the senior Sunni cleric.
In his message, Mohseni-Ejei said the enemies of Iran’s unity and solidarity have failed to achieve their sinister and evil goals and implement the plots hatched by arrogant powers against Sistan and Baluchistan.
Having failed in their objective, they then embarked on committing a crime and killed a popular figure in the province who has always promoted unity among Shia and Sunni Muslims.
Rigi, who was the Friday prayers leader of Imam Hussein Mosque in the city of Khash and also a seminary teacher, was kidnapped and murdered by unknown individuals on Friday.
Mehdi Shamsabadi, the province’s prosecutor, said the cleric was present at his mosque on Thursday, but unknown individuals called him from the rear door, making him sit in a car that had no license plate.