Senior Shiite cleric fatally shot in attack in northern Iran

Ayatollah Abbas Ali Soleimani, a Shiite cleric, was killed in an attack in Babolsar, Iran. The attack occurred following a dispute at a bank.

Confusion persisted hours after the attack. Soleimani had been at a bank in the city when another man seized a guard's firearm and began shooting over a personal dispute with an employee, striking and killing the cleric, state TV initially said. State TV later said it was the guard himself who opened fire.

The discrepant accounts could not be immediately reconciled. The Interior Ministry announced it would launch a special investigation into the cleric's slaying.