Three Iranian clerics stabbed, one killed in attack at shrine
The attack of three Iranian clerics has put authorities on alert about a possible backlash.
An attacker wielding a knife at the Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad killed one cleric and left two others injured Tuesday.
The attacker was 21-year-old Abdullatif Moradi, an ethnic Uzbek who entered Iran illegally in 2021 and has been living in the Mashhad area. According to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, Moradi crossed into Iran from Pakistan.
Tasnim News Agency reported that Moradi identified as a “takfiri who viewed Shiites as heretics and believed their blood should be spilled.” In Iranian media usage, takfiris are extremist Sunnis who commit terrorism, specifically against Shiites. Groups like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are commonly referred to as takfiri groups in the Iranian press.
Moradi reportedly entered the shrine and approached the three clerics, stabbing one about 20 times. Six other individuals, two of them Moradi's brothers, were also arrested by security forces after the attack. Video of the aftermath of the incident showed other individuals restraining Moradi and handing him over to authorities.
