Regime Pressures Baluchs To Deny Assassination Attempt On Sunni Leader

Officials at Makki seminary in Zahedan have come under pressure to deny the assassination of religious leader Mowlavi Abdolhamid.

Haalvsh website, which covers the events in Sistan-Baluchestan province, reported on Tuesday that a number of staff at Makki Mosque where Abdolhamid conducts his controversial anti-regime sermons, are now trying to play down the conspiracy to show the suspect as a spy.

“On Monday, some officials from the ministry of intelligence came to the seminary and the administrative deputy of the complex handed over the arrested person to the security officers,” the website reported.

On Monday, security guards at the mosque arrested a man in the guise of a religious student who wanted to assassinate the Sunni leader.

“The suspect, who is a Baluch and a resident of Delgan region in Sistan and Baluchistan province, has been sleeping and worshiping in the mosque for a long time in the dress of a student of religious studies,” explained the Baluch website.

The report also claimed the suspect admitted he had been attending the mosque for some time to poison Mowlavi Abdolhamid.

"This type of poison works through tactile contact and does not have an immediate effect," the hitman told Haalvsh sources.

According to the report, the suspect admitted that he received a salary of 150 million rials per week since the beginning of his operation.

In recent months, Abdolhamid has been under pressure by Iranian security to end his weekly protests and critical sermons on Fridays.