An Iranian Sunni cleric and outspoken critic of the Islamic Republic was shot dead outside his home in Istanbul by unidentified gunmen, the Kurdish rights outlet Haalvsh reported on Wednesday.
Masoud Nazari, a Kurdish religious and political activist from the city of Javanrud in Iran’s Kermanshah province, was shot several times late Tuesday as he returned from a mosque to his home in Istanbul’s Arnavutköy district, the Turkish news outlet Haberler reported. The attack took place around 8:30 p.m. on Salih Street in the Islambey neighborhood. The gunman, who had followed Nazari, fled the scene on foot after the shooting.
Nazari was taken to the hospital with serious injuries and later died, Haberler said. Police have launched a large-scale investigation, but no suspect has been detained and no group has claimed responsibility.
Haalvsh said Nazari left Iran about ten years ago after facing pressure over his religious and political activities and had lived in Turkey since then. Citing his family and friends, the outlet said he had “repeatedly received threats from Iranian security agencies” and that “the fingerprints of the Islamic Republic’s security institutions are clear in this incident.”
Nazari was known among Kurdish Sunni activists for his criticism of Iran’s religious policies. Haalvsh described him as a cleric and political critic who had opposed the Islamic Republic for years.
Rights groups have long accused Iran of targeting its critics abroad. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, a Washington-based human rights foundation, said in a report last year that it had documented at least 862 extrajudicial killings and more than 120 abduction or assassination attempts linked to the Iranian government since 1979.
