A cleric was killed at his home in the northern Iranian city of Sari, The Caspian Post reports, citing the IRGC-linked Tasnim news agency.

Tasnim identified the victim as Yasser Taheri, a member of the clerical association in Mazandaran province and the prayer leader at Hassan Askari Mosque in the Rahband neighbourhood of Sari.

Initial reports indicated that Taheri had been killed with a bladed weapon, the agency said. The motive for the killing was not immediately known.

Ali Abbasi, head of the Mazandaran forensic medicine department, said investigators were examining the scene. Further details about the cause and circumstances of the death would be released after the body had been examined, he added.