TEHRAN -- Two high-profile Iranian judges were assassinated Saturday in a terrorist attack at the Supreme Court building in downtown Tehran.
A statement issued by the Judiciary identified the judges as Ali Razini, head of Branch 39 of the Supreme Court, and Muhammad Moghiseh, head of Branch 53.
“A person armed with a handgun entered the room of the two veteran judges before noon Saturday and martyred them,” Judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir said, adding a bodyguard of the judges was injured in the attack. 
“The gunman immediately committed suicide while running away and we cannot talk about his motives at this time,” he said.
The judges worked on cases fighting crimes against national security, espionage and terrorism. 
“Martyrs Razini and Moghiseh were always the target of malice held by the enemies because of their brilliant records,” Jahangir said.
“In the last one year, the Judiciary has taken extensive measures to identify spies and hypocritical groups, and this has led to the anger and resentment of the enemies,” Jahangir said.
The Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), with a long history of assassinations and terrorist bombings, is referred as hypocrites in Iran.  
“We hope to be able to quickly publish the results of the follow-ups to arrest those involved” in the terrorist act, Jahangir said.
According to the preliminary investigation, the attacker was not involved in any cases before the Supreme Court.
President Masoud Pezeshkian offered condolences, saying “the security and law enforcement forces should identify the perpetrators and perpetrators of this crime as soon as possible”.
“The bright path of these hard-working and experienced judges will continue with strength,” he wrote in his message.
Iran’s Prosecutor General Muhammad Movahhedi Azad ordered an immediate investigation into the attack, calling on officials to urgently identify and arrest those behind the act of terrorism.
Over the past year, the Iranian judiciary has taken a series of measures to identify, persecute, arrest, and prosecute agents and elements affiliated with Israel, the U.S. and terrorist groups.
Razini, 71, held several important positions in Iran’s judiciary and was previously targeted in a 1998 assassination attempt by assailants, who planted a magnetic bomb on his vehicle.