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.
Sheikh al-Zakzaky after members of his Islamic Movement of
Nigeria (IMN) clashed with the army in the northern city of Zaria.
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
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