A driver ramming a cleric in Tehran on April 26, 2023
Media close to the Revolutionary Guard say two more clerics were targeted by a driver in the Iranian religious city of Qom after a similar attack on Wednesday.
A vehicle ran over the two clerics injuring them Saturday morning while the driver came out of his vehicle and stabbed one of them, Sabereen News, an Arabic and Persian Telegram channel close to the IRGC Qods Force reported.
The assailant then attacked the police officers and wanted to disarm and take their weapons but was arrested by the agents, added the source.
This is the third attack on clerics within the past few days in Iran. Tehran police on Thursday announced a manhunt was underway to find another driver in the attempted murder of a cleric in the capital.
After parking his car in Marzdaran Boulevard in Tehran at 9 am on Wednesday, the 35-year-old cleric was the victim of a car ramming, police said in a statement.
The culprit fled the scene and the cleric's health status has not been disclosed.
As another sign of rising anger against clerics, a bank guard shot and killed a senior cleric in northern Iran on Wednesday, according to CCTV footage.
Abbas-Ali Soleimani was the most senior clergyman killed in months of unrest that has rocked the country since the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.
In surveillance footage shared widely by Iranian media, the shooter was seen calmly approaching the cleric carrying a firearm, milling around briefly, and then shooting him.
Protesters have been targeting clerics in Iran's latest protests. Since the 1979 revolution, the clergy have gained increasing power, but discontent has risen in recent years, particularly amid waves of protests over economic, political, and civil rights issues.