Iran Condoles with Afghanistan on Death of Top Shiite Cleric

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has offered condolences to the Afghan nation and government on the demise of top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Asif Mohseni.

In his Monday message, Zarif also condoled with Afghan scholars and the respected family of Ayatollah Mohseni, who was the head of Afghanistan’s Shiite Ulema Council and a great harbinger of Islamic brotherhood.

He also wished him mercy and greatest divine rewards.

Afghanistan’s top cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammad Asif Mohseni passed away due to an illness in Kabul, his family confirmed on Monday.

Mohseni was born in 1935 in the southern province of Kandahar and was widely considered to be the most powerful cleric among the Shias in Afghanistan.

Mohseni who was the founder of the Islamic Movement of Afghanistan was one of the prominent figures in the Afghan resistance against the Soviet occupation.

After the establishment of a new democratic system in Afghanistan, Mohseni left active politics and instead continued teaching Jurisprudence at Khatam Al-Nabieen religious seminary, founded in 2001.

Mohseni pursued studies in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq under Grand Ayatollah Abul Qasim Khoei, Muhsin al-Hakim and Abdul ala Sabzwari.

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