TEHRAN, Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran says it is using all diplomatic channels to pursue the release of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky who was arrested by the Nigerian army last month.
“We have used all those channels to warn them [Nigeria] regarding this issue. So hopefully the government… would adopt wise action given the sensitive situation,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hoseyn Jaberi-Ansari told reporters in the capital, Tehran.
Campaign group Human Rights Watch said at least 300 IMN members were killed and quickly buried in a mass graves during the incident. The Nigerian military denied the claim.
The military accuses the pro-Iranian sect of trying to assassinate army chief Gen Tukur Buratai, which it denies.
Iran is currently embroiled in a diplomatic row with Saudi Arabia over the execution of a prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
Shia in Nigeria
- Shia are minority in Nigeria but their numbers are increasing
- The IMN, formed in the 1980s, is the main Shia group led by Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky
- They operate their own schools and hospitals in some northern states
- They have a history of clashes with the security forces
- The IMN is backed by Shia-dominated Iran and its members often go there to study
- Sunni jihadist group Boko Haram condemns Shias as heretics who should be killed
Credit: BBC
