Sunni cleric Molavi Abdulvahed Rigi, a pro-Islamic Revolution cleric, was abducted and murdered by unidentified assailants, according to authorities in Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran.

In Khash, a province in the southeast, Molavi Rigi was in charge of leading Friday prayers at the Imam Hussein Mosque.

The cleric was present at his mosque on Thursday, according to Mehdi Shamsabadi, the province's prosecutor, but unidentified men called him from the back door, forcing him to get in a vehicle that had no license plate.

Shamsabadi explained that, on Thursday, local authorities had been mobilized to search for the Cleric. His body, however, was discovered in Khash County on the side of the road with three entry and exit bullet wounds to his head.

The official said that an investigation is being conducted by the police to identify and apprehend those responsible.

Attempts to destabilize Sistan and Baluchestan

The Sunni scholar was previously informed of threats made against him by various anti-Islamic Revolution groups.

Rigi reportedly told a delegate sent to the province by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Seyyed Ali Khamenei: "Even opposition groups have threatened me, but these [threats] won't work."

His emphasis on the significance of the Islamic establishment in Iran and the need for harmony between Shia and Sunni Muslims can be seen in footage during a brief conversation between him and the delegation.

Cleric Rigi stood against the Iran riots

Rigi said that not even one member of the mosque he oversaw participated in the rioting in Khash. The cleric, at the time, explained “I told them no one is permitted to go out of the mosque because we knew hypocrites were out there and we knew what they were doing… we are aware of the plots of enemies and hypocrites.”

Moreover, he said “We love this country; the Leader is our friend,” adding that “This country will be no good to us, to Islam, and even to the families of Muslims after the [fall] of the Islamic establishment.”

Iran slams west dual standards in face of protests

Officials of regimes that have staged coups, conspiracies, interventions, and wars with millions of deaths in their history, recently stood out as defenders of human rights in other countries, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a tweet on December 4th.

Moreover, despite the false gestures of human rights, they have failed in hiding their anti-human rights nature, he added.

Referring to the western countries' paradoxical actions regarding the unrest in Iran and the unrest in their own countries, Kanaani sarcastically mentioned that protests in England, France, Germany, Australia, and Canada deserve severe treatment, but riots in their target countries deserve support.

"After dividing terrorism into good and bad, the heads of these regimes also provide their own definition of unrest and protest. (They believe that) Death is good, but for the neighbor," he said.

His remarks came after UK prime minister Rishi Sunak pledged to have whatever powers needed to crack down on disruptive protests in Britain. Earlier, the UK imposed illegal anti-Iran sanctions under the pretext of defending human rights and supporting the rioters in Iran.

Rishi Sunak has said it is "completely unacceptable" to disrupt people's lives by a "selfish minority" who join illegal protests.

Read more: US envoy for Iran: US focused on supporting riots, JCPOA not priority