Tehran, April 26: Ayatollah Soleimani, a senior Iranian Shia Muslim cleric, has been assassinated in a deadly gun attack in northern Iran, officials said on Wednesday.
Soleimani is also a member of the powerful Assembly of Experts. Iranian state media confirmed the death of Soleimani in a gun attack.
After being shot at from point blank in Babolsar in Mazandaran province of the country, Ayatollah Abbasali Soleimani was shifted to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Irna news agency said the attacker was arrested and the motive was not known immediately.
Soleimani was one of 88 clerics on the Assembly of Experts, which appoints the Supreme Leader and can – theoretically – remove him.