Sunni imam shot dead in northeastern Iran

By Muhammet Kursun

TEHRAN

A Sunni Muslim imam was shot dead in northeastern Iran on Tuesday, according to the state television.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Mawlawi Abdulghaffar Jamalzahi, an imam in Fenderesk district in the northeastern Golestan province, as he was going home after performing the dawn prayer, the television said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

In July, a Sunni Muslim scholar was assassinated by unidentified gunmen in Iran’s southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Shias make up around 90 percent of Iran’s 80-million-strong population. The remaining 10 percent -- including Turkmens, Kurds and Balochis -- is comprised mainly of Sunni Muslims.