Asenior Iranian religious leader Abbas-Ali Soleimani was reportedly shot dead on Wednesday morning at a bank in the city of Babolsar.
A local security official in the Mazandaran
province which confirmed the incident to the IRNA news agency, however, noted
that the suspect was arrested at the scene, as reported by RT.
A local media report cited by the
semi-official Tasnim outlet said the incident happened at the central office of
the National Bank of Babolsar. The suspect is said to have grabbed a gun from a
security guard and shot multiple people, one of whom was Soleimani.
The Iranian cleric, who was in his mid-70s,
served on the Council of Experts, an 88-seat clerical body that oversees state
policies. One of its functions is to appoint the supreme leader of the Islamic
nation, a position currently held by Ali Khamenei.
Soleimani was serving his second eight-year
term in the organisation, which held its last election of members in 2016.
During both terms, he represented the province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
He was previously appointed by Khamenei as a
senior Islamic jurist in the city of Kashan in Isfahan province, as well as in
Sistan and Baluchestan. He also held the position of the Imam of Friday Prayer
in several Iranian cities.
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