Iranian Media Announces Assassination of Ali Khamenei’s Representative

Iran’s official media outlets have reported the assassination of Muhammad Sabahi, the representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and preacher of Friday prayers, in the city of Qarun, Fars province.

A representative of Ali Khamenei was fatally shot by an unidentified assailant in Fars province, western Iran.

Who was Muhammad Sabahi, Representative of Ali Khamenei?

According to CNN, here are key facts about the assassinated representative of Ali Khamenei:

• Sheikh Muhammad Sabahi was the Jumar imam of the city of Qajarun and a prominent figure close to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
• He served as the Guardian Jurist and Supreme Commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolution.
• For nearly a decade, Sheikh Muhammad Sabahi served as the Friday imam of the city of Qazroon in Fars province, making him one of Iran’s supreme leader’s representatives in the region.
• With his death, Sheikh Muhammad Sabahi became the third Friday imam of the city of Qarun to be killed since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The previous imam, Muhammad Khorsand, was stabbed to death a few years ago.

Muhammad Sabahi was a military retiree who served in the Iran-Iraq war. He was not a veteran or a family member of martyrs and had no personal conflict with Khamenei’s representative in the city.

The attacker, a veteran, came from villages around the town of Kajarun.