عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Iran Executes Man for Killing Cleric

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

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.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Cyprus Says US Decree on Security Affirms Island's Stabilizing Role in Region

Nicosia, Cyprus | Photo: Getty Images
Nicosia, Cyprus | Photo: Getty Images
TT
TT

Cyprus Says US Decree on Security Affirms Island's Stabilizing Role in Region

Nicosia, Cyprus | Photo: Getty Images
Nicosia, Cyprus | Photo: Getty Images

Cyprus on Thursday hailed a US memorandum allowing military sales, including arms, to the island as a milestone affirming recognition of the island as a pillar of stability in the east Mediterranean region which has been fraught with conflict.
US President Joe Biden boosted security ties with Cyprus on Wednesday by issuing a memorandum that makes the island eligible to receive American defense articles, military sales and training.
Cyprus has over the years played a key role in evacuating people out of conflict zones and established a maritime corridor for aid to war-ravaged Gaza last year.
"This (memorandum) is a clear recognition of the Republic of Cyprus as a pillar of stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean, with the potential to further contribute to peace and the management of humanitarian challenges," the Cypriot presidency said in a statement.
Cyprus was close to Russia for decades, but there has been a marked shift in allegiances in recent years, Reuters said.
For many in Cyprus, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has drawn parallels to Türkiye’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974, and Cyprus, an EU member state, has followed its peers in adopting sanctions on Moscow. It is now getting FBI expertise in countering illicit finance.
Access to the US programs would enable greater interoperability to respond to regional humanitarian crises, counter malign influence, and combat terrorism and transnational organized crime, the US embassy in Nicosia said.
Deepening US-Cyprus relations are closely followed by Türkiye, which in September criticized the signing of a roadmap to boost defense co-operation between the United States and Cyprus.
Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion following a brief Greek-inspired coup in 1974, following years of sporadic violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots which triggered the collapse of a power-sharing administration in 1963.