Knife Attacker Who Killed Clerics in Mashhad Executed
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A foreign assailant who had killed two clergymen in a stabbing attack in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad in April was hanged on Monday.
The chief of the Justice Department of Khorassan Razavi Province announced on Monday that the knife attacker was hanged this morning after the conclusion of legal proceedings.
Abdullatif Muradi, 21, a man of Uzbek descent, had stabbed three clergymen at the shrine of the eighth Shiite Imam in Mashhad on April 5, killing two and injuring one of them.
He had reportedly entered Iran illegally from Pakistan a year ago before residing in Mashhad.
The provincial chief of the Justice Department said Muradi has been convicted of knife attack with the purpose of murder and creating horror that disrupted security inside the holy shrine and even off the premises.
The convict was finally hanged in Vakilabad Prison of Mashhad early Monday on charge of Muharebe (taking up arms against society), the official stated.
After being hit many times by the assailant, one of the clerics, Mohammad Aslani, died instantaneously from his wounds.
The second victim, Daraei, had undergone difficult surgery to help him recuperate from multiple stabbing wounds, but succumbed to the injuries.
The three clerics, one of whom has been disabled after the attack, were friends who had been active in volunteer social and cultural activities in Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city, for years.
They had also been working in impoverished communities on the outskirts of Mashhad, assisting residents in improving their living conditions as well as providing religious instruction.
Videos circulating on social media showed that the assailant had been under the influence of Takfiri ideology and the Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group.
Notably, the attack has been widely condemned by leaders and organizations belonging to different religious denominations in both Iran and Afghanistan.