Iranian senior police official reportedly shot dead inside his car

A senior Iranian police official was reportedly assassinated in southeastern Iran on Sunday morning.

According to the state-affiliated Nour News agency, Maj. Alireza Shahraki was shot and killed by “unknown gunmen” while sitting in his car alongside his wife.

The news site, which is linked to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, reported that Shahraki’s wife was seriously wounded in the attack.

The English-language Iran International news site identified Shahraki as the head of the police investigative department for Saravan County in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province.

Iran International suggested that Shakrahi had been accused in the past of using “extremely violent” methods against detainees.

Just last week, a powerful Iranian cleric was gunned down at a bank in the city of Babolsar in the northern province of Mazandaran.

Ayatollah Abbas Ali Soleimani, 75, was a member of the Assembly of Experts that selects the country’s supreme leader.

AFP contributed to this report.