Iran: Two Supreme Court judges shot to death

Two judges on the Iranian Supreme Court were shot dead Saturday in Tehran by a gunman, the judicial authority's official agency, Mizan Online, announced. There is a third who was wounded in the same attack.

"Three Supreme Court judges were targeted in an attack. Two of them died as martyrs and the other was injured," Mizan Online stated.

Those killed are the heads of the court's 39th and 53rd divisions, Judges Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghisseh.

Judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir said on television that the assailant had "entered the office of the two judges armed with a pistol" and killed them. The outlet added that the attacker committed suicide.

Although there were no details about the motives, Mizan Online said the perpetrator had no case pending before the Supreme Court and labeled the attack as "terrorist."

The two judges killed on Saturday were "Hodjatoleslam," an honorary title in Shiite Islam given to clerics of intermediate rank, and in recent years had presided over important hearings.

Mohammad Moghisseh, 68, had a long career in the judiciary since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

In 2019, he was sanctioned by the United States for having "overseen an untold number of unfair trials."

Ali Razini, 71, held important positions within the judiciary but also Iranian politics.