Iran Executes Man for Killing Cleric

Cleric Abbas Ali Soleimani (Fars news agency)
Cleric Abbas Ali Soleimani (Fars news agency)
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Iran Executes Man for Killing Cleric

Cleric Abbas Ali Soleimani (Fars news agency)
Cleric Abbas Ali Soleimani (Fars news agency)

Iran on Wednesday executed a man who was convicted of fatally shooting a senior cleric in April, state media reported.

The attacker, who has not been named, shot at cleric Abbas Ali Soleimani and killed him on April 26 in a bank in Babolsar city in the northern province of Mazandaran.

CCTV camera footage released by Tasnim news agency showed the attacker, a local security officer of the bank, shooting a religious man from behind as he was sitting in a chair at the bank, wearing a black religious uniform and a white turban.

“The sentence of qesas for the murderer of Abbas Ali Soleimani was carried out Wednesday after being approved by the country's Supreme Court,” a local official said, according to the judiciary's Mizan Online website.

Soleimani, 75, was previously a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and led Friday prayers in the cities of Kashan and Zahedan.

He was also a member of the Assembly of Experts that selects the country's supreme leader.



Trump Says He Expects to Make a Decision on Iran Very Quickly 

President Donald Trump gestures to reporters as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP)
President Donald Trump gestures to reporters as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP)
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Trump Says He Expects to Make a Decision on Iran Very Quickly 

President Donald Trump gestures to reporters as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP)
President Donald Trump gestures to reporters as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP)

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he expected to make a decision on Iran very quickly, after both countries said they held "positive" and "constructive" talks in Oman on Saturday and agreed to reconvene this week.

Trump, who has threatened military action if no deal is reached on halting Iran's nuclear program, told reporters aboard Air Force One that he met with advisers on Iran and expected a quick decision. He gave no further details.

"We'll be making a decision on Iran very quickly," he said.

Axios cited two sources with knowledge of the issue as saying that a second round of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran would take place next Saturday in Rome.

The talks held in Oman on Saturday were the first between Iran and a Trump administration, including the US president's 2017-2021 first term. Officials said they took place in a "productive, calm and positive atmosphere."

On Saturday, Trump told reporters the US-Iran talks were going "okay," adding, "Nothing matters until you get it done, so I don’t like talking about it, but it’s going okay. The Iran situation is going pretty good, I think."