A criminal court judge in Shiraz, southern Iran, was fatally shot Tuesday morning while traveling to work, officials confirmed. Judge Ehsan Bagheri, who led Branch 102 of the Criminal Court 2 in Shiraz, was attacked by two unknown assailants in what authorities have labeled a terrorist act. The attackers remain unidentified and have not been captured. The motive behind the killing is still unclear.
Bagheri, 38, had more than 12 years of experience in Iran’s judiciary and hailed from Fars province. Before his current role, he served as a prosecutor and investigator in Revolutionary Courts across several cities, including Shiraz. Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei has ordered an urgent investigation into the judge’s assassination, which adds to a series of violent attacks targeting judicial officials in the country.
Earlier this year, a rare shooting inside Iran’s Supreme Court resulted in the deaths of two senior judges, Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghisseh. The attacker reportedly committed suicide after the incident, which authorities described as a planned assassination. Both judges were involved in sensitive national security cases, though motives behind the attack remain undisclosed.
This recent murder follows another violent event in Shiraz on Monday night, where a man shot and killed four people before being injured and arrested by security forces. Officials have yet to release further details on this incident.
