Sunni Cleric Gunned Down in Southeastern Iran

TEHRAN (FNA)- An Iranian Sunni prayer leader was gunned down in front of a mosque in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.

Molawi Sheikh Ali Dehvari, who was also the director of a local Sunni seminary, was killed by two bikers in the town of Saravan after finishing evening prayers on Monday.

The reason and those behind the killing are not known yet but informed sources say that this terrorist act was carried out by those who want to instigate differences between Sunni and Shiites.

Security forces in Saravan have launched an investigation into the case.

Molavi Sheikh Ali Dehvari was shot dead on Monday by two motorcyclists while on his way home, Colonel Salah Askarpour, a police official from Sistan-Baluchestan province said.

Askarpour confirmed the two assassins escaped the scene, but he stressed that security forces have launched a full-scale investigation into the attack and aim to arrest those responsible.

The city of Saravan sits close to the Pakistani border and is located at 300km southeast of provincial capital city Zahedan.

A substantial Sunni minority population lives in Sistan-Baluchestan, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan. The province has been the scene of several deadly attacks in recent months blamed on drug-traffickers and militants from a terrorist group known as Jundullah.