Judge assassinated in stabbing attack in southwestern Iran

A judge was assassinated in a stabbing attack on Tuesday in Shiraz, the capital of Fars province in southwestern Iran, according to the local judiciary.

"This morning, two individuals attacked and assassinated Judge Ehsan Bagheri, head of Branch 102 of Shiraz Criminal Court 2, on his way to work. Unfortunately, he was martyred in this terrorist act," local judiciary chief Sadrollah Rajaei told Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

"This assassination was carried out with a cold weapon," he added.

Iran’s judiciary chief Mohseni Ejei condemned the assassination, calling it "cowardly," according to a statement published on Mizan.

The statement said that Ejei also ordered an urgent investigation into the incident and called for the perpetrators to be identified and prosecuted swiftly.

No details about the motive behind the assassination or the identities of the attackers have been released by Iranian authorities.

IRNA’s report said that Bagheri was 38 years old and had 12 years of judicial experience.

Iran's judiciary-affiliated news agency Mizan said that before becoming a criminal court judge, Bagheri spent over a decade at the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office. The Revolutionary Court system in Iran, where he served, is responsible for handling cases related to national security, political and ideological offenses.

Earlier this year, two Revolutionary Court judges, Mohammad Moghiseh and Ali Razini, were assassinated in Tehran on January 18. Both had decades-long records of issuing death sentences and lengthy prison terms to dissidents in numerous cases.

Last month, Iran International reported that the man who shot Moghiseh and Razini was identified as Farshid Asadi, a 31-year-old court service aide, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The source said Asadi originally intended to also target former Revolutionary Court judge Mahmoud Toliyat but changed his mind for unknown reasons before fatally shooting himself.