Iran Guards say Sunni cleric killed by separatists

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday that Sunni cleric Mohammad Nezhati had been killed in a northwestern province, blaming what they called separatist groups and saying the killing was aimed at stoking divisions between Sunnis and Shias.

The Guards did not immediately make clear when the incident took place. They said Nezhati was also a member of the Basij volunteer paramilitary forces, which operate under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In a statement, the Guards described the killing as a “brutal terrorist crime” committed by “Zionist-American separatist groups”. They said it was intended to undermine unity between Shias and Sunnis and deprive society of security and peace.

Iranian authorities often use the term “separatist groups” to describe Kurdish opposition groups based in Iraq's Kurdistan region, which Tehran has long accused of links to the United States and Israel.

Iran has been at war with the United States since February 28, when US-Israeli attacks killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Shia-majority Iran has sizeable Sunni communities, particularly in its western and southeastern provinces.