Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei on Sunday strongly condemned the assassination of a Syrian Shia religious cleric, describing it as a terrorist attack and "heinous crime."
On Friday, Sayyid Farhan al-Mansour, Imam of the Sayyeda Zainab Shrine in the southern suburbs of Damascus, was assassinated after a hand grenade was thrown at his vehicle. Mansour was targeted by unknown assailants shortly after he finished leading Friday prayers and was leaving the shrine.
Baghaei said that acts of terrorism targeting religious sites and scholars in Syria and across West Asia are part of a broader plot by Israel and the US to create sectarian division and chaos in the region.
Baghaei called on all parties to remain vigilant, confront terrorism and extremism, and stressed the need to hold those responsible for the attack accountable. He further emphasized that Syria's transitional authorities are responsible for ensuring the safety of all citizens, including scholars and members of various ethnic and religious groups.
The Syrian Interior Ministry has said the assassination of a Shia cleric marks a "dangerous escalation," adding it is following with "great concern" what it described as "systematic" attempts in recent days to create instability, spread chaos, and undermine civil peace.
A source told Asharq al-Awsat that the cleric killed on Friday was "considered a partner of the government in reshaping the landscape of stability within the Shia community" in Syria, going as far as to claim that this role made him a target for cells linked to the "Iran axis," which, according to circles close to the Syrian government, are allegedly exploiting instability by recruiting local agents.
Since coming to power in December 2024, Syria's new government has established a religious state based on the extremist teachings of the medieval Sunni religious scholar Ibn Taymiyya. Ibn Taymiyya preached that Shia and Alawite Muslims and Druze are apostates who deserve to be killed and their property stolen.
Syria's new army, formed from the extremist Sunni armed factions supported by the foreign powers to topple Assad, has carried out multiple massacres against Syria's minority communities.
In March 2025, Syrian forces massacred at least 1,500 Alawite civilians in the country's coastal regions. In July 2025, Syrian and allied tribal forces massacred some 1,700 Druze in the Suwayda region of southern Syria.
During both massacres, Syrian fighters filmed many of their atrocities, including forcing Alawite men to crawl and bark like dogs before executing them en masse, and massacring entire families of Druze and Christians in their homes, and executing and beheading Druze men in the streets.
Syria's army is led by the country's new president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former ISIS commander who stated in an interview with Al-Jazeera in 2015 that Syria's Alawites should be killed unless they convert to Sunni Islam.