A pair of infamous Iranian Supreme Court judges who handled terrorism and espionage cases were fatally gunned down Saturday in Tehran, according to the Islamic Republic’s judiciary.
Judges Mohammad Moghiseh, 68, and Ali Razini, 71, were shot dead inside the Supreme Court, while a bodyguard for one of the jurists was wounded in the attack, the judiciary said.
The gunman then killed himself while attempting to flee the scene, according to Mizan, the judiciary’s news outlet.
No immediate motive was identified, but judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir told state TV the slain judges had a history of handling “national security cases, including espionage and terrorism.”
“In the past year, the judiciary has undertaken extensive efforts to identify spies and terrorist groups, a move that has sparked anger and resentment among the enemies,” Jahangir said.
State television said without elaborating that many of the cases were connected to people with ties to Israel and Iranian opposition backed by the United States.
Both judges were believed by activists and exiles to have been involved in the 1988 mass executions of dissidents.
Razini previously survived an assassination attempt in 1998 while serving as the head of the judiciary in Tehran.
Moghiseh was under US sanctions since 2019, when the Treasury said he had “overseen countless unfair trials, during which charges went unsubstantiated and evidence was disregarded.”
With Post wires
