Sunni Kurdish cleric killed in northwest Iran, Guards blame 'separatists'

DUBAI, Sept 9 (Reuters) - ‌Sunni Kurdish ​cleric ​Mamosta Mohammad Nezhati was killed in northwestern Iran, the Revolutionary Guards ‌said in a statement reported on Wednesday ⁠by the semi-official Mehr news agency.

The statement accused ‌what it called “Zionist-American Kurdish ‌separatist groups” of carrying out the attack.

The Guards' West Azerbaijan provincial command said the ​killing of the local cleric was an attempt to create divisions between Sunni ⁠and Shi'ite Muslims and undermine security in the province.

In a ​Telegram post, the semi-official Fars news agency described Nezhati as a member of ​Basij, a paramilitary force ‌linked to the Guards.

It quoted the Guards' statement as saying he ⁠had a long history of cooperation with Basij organisations for professors, seminarians and clerics.

His killing follows ⁠that of Molavi Mohammad Anvar Rigi, a Sunni ​Baluch Friday prayer leader in the southeastern border town of Mirjaveh, who was killed by unidentified gunmen ‌in July.

In border provinces with large ethnic minority populations, such as Sistan-Baluchistan ‌and the Kurdish-populated western provinces, Iran has ⁠long faced militancy ‌targeting security forces ​and figures associated with the state.

(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Sharon ‌Singleton)

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