Two senior judges killed in armed attack in Tehran

"The killing of the two notorious judges, Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh, reflects the people's dissatisfaction with the Islamic Republic, which is no longer controllable," said Iranian political analyst Morad Vaisi.

"What was thought to be protests confined to the streets has now reached the offices of officials," he said Saturday.

"When the Islamic Republic eliminates the possibility of public participation in elections and there are no free elections in Iran, and when it simultaneously deprives people of the right to peaceful street protests, it is natural for anger and dissatisfaction to remain in society and manifest itself in various forms," Vaisi added.

"Today, after killing two judges, the assailant attempted to target a third judge but failed. During the attempt, he mentioned the MEK, indicating that it was a targeted, preplanned attempt to seek revenge against the judges," said Iran's former justice minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi.

Pourmohammadi has held several key roles within the state but is widely known to the public for his role on the three-person "Death Committees" established by the Islamic Republic to oversee the purge of political prisoners in the 1980s.

Mohammad Moghiseh and Ali Razini, the two judges who were killed by a 31-year-old assailant on Saturday in Tehran, were also involved in the mass executions of dissidents, mainly MEK members, carried out by the Islamic Republic in 1988.

According to Amnesty International, throughout Iran, “predominantly young men and women, including teenagers, who were unjustly imprisoned for their political views and non-violent activities” were gathered from their cells and presented before "death commissions" composed of judicial, prosecutorial, and intelligence authorities.

Former political prisoner and dissident activist Hossein Ronaghi says the anger of the Iranian people, resulting from decades of oppression, will eventually impact those in power.

"What we are witnessing today is the result of decades of humiliation, death, destruction, and devastation that the Islamic Republic has imposed on Iranians. Surely, the people's anger will engulf all of you," he wrote in a post on his X account in reaction to the assassination of two Supreme Court judges.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in a statement on the killing of two Supreme Court judges, referred to Ali Razini as a "dedicated scholar" and Mohammad Moghiseh as a "courageous judge," offering "congratulations on their martyrdom."

"Razini had previously been targeted by adversaries and had endured years of suffering as a war veteran," he said, referring to a 1999 assassination attempt which injured Razini.

Ali Razini, one of the two notorious judges who were shot dead in Tehran on Saturday, had earlier been injured in another assassination attempt in January 1999.

Hours after the deaths of Mohammad Moghiseh and Ali Razini, two senior Supreme Court judges, state media reported that Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Masoud Pezeshkian, and Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the heads of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, convened for a joint meeting at the Presidential Office. No details about the meeting were disclosed.

Hossein Ronaghi, a blogger and activist who has spent years in prison for his political views, wrote on X: “What we are witnessing today is the result of decades of humiliation, death, destruction, and devastation imposed on Iranians by the Islamic Republic. Certainly, the people's anger will engulf all of you.”

Hossein Razagh, a political activist and former detainee, commented on X: “While terrorism should not be celebrated, the demise of the agents of oppression deserves a celebration.”

Atena Daemi, a human rights activist and former prisoner known for her opposition to executions and advocacy for political prisoners, shared on X: “I am glad they met their end—not at the hands of those they condemned to death and imprisonment under the pretext of disturbing security, but by their own employees!”

Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, head of Iran's judiciary, expressed his condolences over the deaths of Supreme Court judges Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh.

Ejei praised the two judges for their strict rulings and called them "true believers in the Islamic Revolution" and "dedicated servants of the people." He said their decisive actions against "terrorists and criminals had made them targets of hatred from enemies."

Ejei added that the judges never hesitated to prosecute and punish those who threatened the security of citizens.

The Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the assassination of Supreme Court judges Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh, calling it a "cowardly and inhumane terrorist act", and urged security forces to identify and prosecute those responsible swiftly.

"The martyrdom of two prominent judges of our country in this cowardly and inhumane terrorist act has deeply saddened me," Masoud Pezeshkian's statement read on the government's website.

"I strongly urge the security and law enforcement forces to immediately investigate the dimensions and aspects of this reprehensible act and take the necessary steps to identify and bring to justice those responsible," he added.

Deputy Chairman of Parliament's Judiciary Committee announced that the committee has launched an investigation into the deaths of Supreme Court judges Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh.

“This is undoubtedly a major loss for the judiciary,” Mohammad Taghi Naghdali said. “These were capable individuals who stood firm against insecurity and threats to the country’s stability, dedicating their lives to the values of Islam and the Islamic Republic.”

Judges Mohammad Moghiseh and Ali Razini, assassinated in Tehran on January 18, had decades-long histories of handing down death sentences and lengthy prison terms to dissidents in numerous cases.

The cases handled by the two judges, both of the clerical rank of hojjat ol-eslam, involved political dissidents, activists, followers of the Baha’i faith, dissident clerics, and those accused of security-related "crimes."

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Prosecutor General Mohammad Movahedi Azad has directed the Tehran prosecutor to "investigate the case swiftly and thoroughly and take legal action against those responsible for the attack," according to Judiciary media.

"The case must be reviewed promptly, and all necessary measures should be taken in coordination with security forces to identify and apprehend those behind this crime," he was quoted as saying by Mizan.

Iranian president's social affairs assistant, Ali Rabiei, condemned the judiciary attack, calling it a 'targeted conspiracy' by Iran's enemies to undermine hope and unity among the people.

"Whenever a glimmer of hope and progress towards resolving issues appears, Iran’s enemies resort to violence, carrying out targeted and hypocritical assassinations, such as today’s bloody attack in the judiciary," former Iranian minister and long-time intelligence official Ali Rabiei wrote on X.

"The Iranian people have always expressed their hatred towards these affiliated terrorists. Collective vigilance will neutralise these conspiracies and maintain the unity of the Iranian people," he added.

Judges Razini and Moghiseh played direct roles in "crimes against humanity through the massacre of political prisoners in the 1980s, and they continued their crimes until the last days of their lives by upholding the death sentences of political opponents in the Supreme Court," Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, Director of the Iran Human Rights group, wrote on X.

"The importance of documenting the crimes of the 1980s by the Islamic Republic becomes clear when we realize that those who were directly involved in the massacre of political prisoners in that decade will no longer be around to be held accountable for their crimes in a fair post-Islamic Republic court," he added.

Videos circulating on social media show the location in Tehran where Mohammad Moghiseh and Ali Razini, two Supreme Court judges, were killed, with police blocking the entrance to the building.

Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate, reacted to the deaths of two judges on Instagram, writing: “Their murder today is the result of the judiciary’s behavior, practices, and repression. Those who sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind.”

Ebadi said that the deaths of Razini and Moghiseh have eliminated an opportunity to shed light on part of the establishment's crimes. She emphasized that the path taken by the Islamic Republic’s judiciary, amplified or directed by its security apparatus, inevitably leads to such incidents.

The human rights lawyer also noted that the Islamic Republic has already referred to Razini and Moghiseh as “martyrs” and added: “Justice for Moghiseh, Razini, and all those involved in the Islamic Republic’s crimes requires public, transparent, and fair trials — something they have always feared.”

Ebadi concluded by highlighting the judiciary’s history of increasing executions and carrying out mass arrests in response to actions by the United States and Israel. She warned that, in retaliation for the deaths of these two notorious judges, the regime may now intensify its crackdown on prisoners.

"Some false and fabricated narratives and reports are being circulated, all of which are entirely baseless and lack credibility," the Judiciary's statement, published on Mizan, read.

"Apart from the martyrdom of the two prominent Supreme Court judges, only Martyr Razini’s security guard was injured," it added.

Nearly all local media in Iran initially reported that a third judge had been targeted and hospitalized but did not succumb to injuries.

The Judiciary of the Islamic Republic has denied reports that several staff members from the Palace of Justice were arrested on the prosecutor's orders.
Earlier, ILNA News Agency had reported these arrests.

While local media agree that the assailant committed suicide, accounts differ on his identity. Some, including the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency, describe him as a staff member responsible for refreshments at Iran's Judiciary headquarters, who used a handgun to target the judges.

In contrast, the Judiciary’s official statement refers to him as an infiltrator who "neither had a case at the Supreme Court nor was a visitor to any of its branches." According to the judiciary spokesperson, the assailant entered the office of two Supreme Court judges between 10:00 AM and 10:45 AM local time, armed with a handgun, and opened fire.

ILNA news also reported that several staff at Tehran's Courthouse, known as the Palace of Justice, were arrested on the prosecutor's orders.

ISNA News reported that in 1998, Razini was previously targeted in a "terrorist assassination attempt."

An old video has also resurfaced showing Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, visiting Razini after a failed assassination attempt in December 1998, during which Khamenei expressed his "wish for martyrdom" for him.

The Judiciary Media Center issued a statement regarding the incident, referring to an infiltrator:

"This morning, an armed infiltrator at the Supreme Court carried out a premeditated assassination targeting two brave and experienced judges renowned for their fight against crimes against national security, espionage, and terrorism.

Hojatoleslam Ali Razini, head of Branch 39, and Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, head of Branch 53 of the Supreme Court, were among those attacked.

As a result of this terrorist act, two dedicated and revolutionary judges—steadfast in their defense of public security—were killed.

Preliminary investigations reveal that the assailant neither had a case at the Supreme Court nor was a visitor to any of its branches.

Following the attack, authorities moved quickly to apprehend the gunman, but he immediately committed suicide."

A rare and deadly armed attack in Tehran targeted three judges of Iran's Supreme Court, leaving two dead, in what local media described as an unusually serious incident on Saturday.

Two of the judges, including Judge Mohammad Moghiseh and Hojatoleslam Ali Razini, were killed, while the third judge sustained injuries and is receiving medical treatment.