TEHRAN – Iran’s Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib has highlighted the motives behind a recent knife attack that took place inside the shrine of Imam Reza (AS) in Mashhad, saying the terrorist attack aims to sow division among the Iranian people. 

During his meeting with Ayatollah Kazem Noormofidi, representative of the Leader in Golestan Province and the Friday prayer’s imam of Gorgan on Monday, Khatib warned that the enemy always seeks to sow division and undercut national unity by launching media attacks.

He added, “However, the Iranian people showed with their intuition and intelligence that they have full hope and confidence in the state, and that this hope and trust has led to the steadfastness of the state and the people in the field.”

Khatib noted, “The enemy is always trying to undermine this unity, but the vigilance and management methods that prevail in the province have been able to thwart all the enemy's plans and conspiracies.”

The intelligence minister pointed out, “The enemy will not abandon its hostility because of its own inclination, and it is natural for it to increase its hostility and try to deal a blow to the Islamic Republic.”

It is noteworthy that, on April 5, a Takfiri element attacked 3 clerics in the courtyard of the shrine of Imam Reza in the city of Mashhad, which led to the death of two of them. 

Gholam Ali Sadeghi, the head of the judiciary of Khorasan Razavi province in northeastern Iran, announced that the perpetrator of the crime is the only accused in the file.

In a statement to Iranian TV on Monday evening, Sadeghi said, “After the incident at the Razavi shrine, in which the accused attacked 3 clerics, a number of suspects were summoned, but there was no evidence that they were directly involved in the crime or assisted and supported it.”

He explained that after the accident the Razavi shrine cameras were examined and the testimonies of witnesses were taken, which greatly helped in the investigation of the file, as well as the confessions of the accused and the statements of the suspects.

He stated that the terrorist committed the crime under the creed of Takfiri groups, and his file will be decided on urgently after being sent to the special room of the Revolutionary Court.

He pointed out that before committing his crime on the same day, the assailant had attacked two students of religious sciences, but he failed to stab them for some reasons, and then attacked the three students of religious sciences, and he had no prior knowledge of them.

He stated that the accused had received, through the virtual space, the necessary training on how to hide weapons, as he was able to hide his knife and enter it to the shrine of Imam Reza to commit his crime.