Assassinated in the Shadows: Unveiling the Mysterious Life of Muhammad Sabahi, Iran’s Fallen Leader

On Friday, Iran’s official news agency “IRNA” announced the killing of Muhammad Sabahi, representative of Supreme Leader Ali and preacher of Friday prayers, in the city of Kazarun in the northwest of Fars province of southern Iran.

He confirmed that “a man started shooting at Sheikh Muhammad Sabahi, the Friday imam of Qajarun city,” adding that “Sheikh Sabahi was seriously injured and was taken to the hospital, but he died.”

But what do we know about the assassinated representative of Iranian leader Ali Khamenei?

Sabahi, who is Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in the city of Qazroon, is known to be close to the supreme leader, holding the position of guardian jurist and supreme leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

Iran’s official religious authority, led by Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, appoints imams as morning prayers to lead Friday prayers.

Sabahi previously served as the Friday prayer imam in Khorama, Fars province of Iran for a decade, before being transferred to become the Friday prayer imam in Qaroun from November 2019.

Sabahi was the representative of Iran’s supreme leader and the imam of Friday prayers in Karzan, until he was killed yesterday, after Friday prayers, when he was taken to the hospital after being injured, but died soon after being transferred.

Personal, not terrorist, motives

Regarding his target, Mohammad Ali Bukhrad, the governor of the city of Kazarun in Iran’s Fars province, said: “The perpetrator carried out the attack for unknown reasons,” ruling out a terrorist motive.

He noted that the attack, which took place yesterday afternoon and after Friday prayers in Qarun city, after the attacker opened fire with a firearm, may have been due to a personal dispute.

Meanwhile, Gholam Reza Dehgan Nasserbadi, a member of parliament from Kazarun city, said that the attacker shot the imam using a gun, although the extent of the case is still under investigation and will be reported later, reported the “Iran International” website.

A veteran or ex-con?

Soon after the news of Imam Karoun’s shooting spread, a popular Iranian channel on Telegram claimed that the attacker was a war veteran, who opened fire and later attempted suicide.

However, the head of the “Shaheed” Foundation in Kazarun, Mehdi Mazari, quickly disputed the report and denied that the perpetrator was a veteran or family member of the martyrs and warned that anyone spreading false information would be prosecuted.

Iran’s Judiciary Department’s Mizan News website also reported that initial allegations identifying the attacker as a war veteran were false, saying: “This man is not a veteran but has a criminal record.”

According to Mizan, the attacker tried to harm a judge using explosives 20 years ago, but injured himself, after which he spent six years in prison for the bombing of Gachsaran in southwestern Iran, as well as weapons theft and bribery.

The third Jumar Imam was killed in Qajarun

With Sabahi’s death, he will be the third Friday imam to be killed in Qazaroon since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Karun’s Friday imam, Muhammad Khorsand, was killed after being stabbed.

Meanwhile, Imam Abd al-Rahim Rahman Daneshjo was shot dead three times and authorities blamed the Iranian opposition Mujahideen Organization for the killing.

Muhammad Khorsand.. stabbed

In a similar case, notably on May 29, 2019, Muhammad Khorsand, the Friday imam of Kajrun, was stabbed while returning from prayers during the month of Ramadan.

Security forces quickly arrested a suspect, Hamid Reza Derakhshandeh, who had been sentenced to death by Iran’s judiciary, upheld and executed by the Supreme Court within two months.

Abdul Rahim Danishjo.. Bullet

On July 31, 1981, Abd al-Rahim Danishjo, then the Friday imam of Qajarun, was shot dead near his home after evening prayers.

Authorities then linked the attack to members of Iran’s People’s Mujahideen, also known as the People’s Mujahideen, now an exiled opposition group in Albania.