Iran sunni cleric 'assassinated' outside mosque north of Tehran

An Iranian Muslim cleric who had worked to reconcile Sunni and Shia Muslims was shot and killed north of Tehran, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Abdolghafour Jamalzai was shot in the back with a hunting rifle on Tuesday morning outside of a mosque in the town of Gorgan.

The town is about 300 kilometres, or about 190 miles, northeastern of Tehran.

The report didn't say how many gunmen were involved or speculate on the possible motives for the assassination.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The cleric "believed that enemies of Islam are trying to stir up trouble between Shia and Sunni" Muslims, the report said, in reference to Islams two biggest sects.

Iran is a majority Shia nation with a large Sunni minority. In July, gunmen assassinated a Sunni cleric in southeastern Iran.

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