Two Iranian Supreme Court judges shot dead

Two senior Iranian judges have been killed—reportedly shot—at the entrance to Iran’s Supreme Court in what appears to have been a targeted killing.

   In the court in the capital Tehran, on Saturday morning, a gunman killed Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh.

The attacker died of a gunshot wound while trying to escape, as reported by the judiciary news site, Mizan. One person who was injured in the attack was a bodyguard.

No reason for the attack was mentioned, but both judges are said to have been involved in handling cases of political opponents of the Islamic government from the early 1980s.

The judiciary’s media office released a statement where it referred to the attack as a well-planned assassination.

It also said that, based on early estimates, the attacker had not been a party to any case reviewed by the Supreme Court. Police are looking at whether other people were involved in the attack.

Both victims have been in the judiciary service for more than two decades. That could entail confirming death sentences in the Supreme Court, as was the case with one local high school history teacher.

Razini, 71, was one of Iran’s most senior judges and underwent an assassination attempt in 1998.

Moghiseh, 68, has faced the EU, US, and Canadian bans for human rights violations, according to the information.