ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Islamic State (ISIS) on Thursday claimed responsibility for the killing of Syrian Shiite imam Farhan Hassan al-Mansour in a bombing attack targeting his vehicle in the Damascus countryside last week.

In a statement published in its weekly al-Naba newspaper, the extremist group said its fighters detonated a sticky bomb placed inside Mansour’s car after he left the Sayyida Zeinab area south of the Syrian capital last Friday.

The group described Mansour as “one of the prominent imams of disbelief” and asserted that the blast “led to his death and the destruction of his vehicle.”

Syrian authorities had earlier announced the killing of Mansour, who served as the Friday preacher at the Sayyida Zeinab shrine in Rif Dimashq and was considered a notable figure within Syria’s Shiite community.

The Syrian interior ministry said the attack came amid “systematic attempts” to destabilize the country and spread chaos, describing the assassination as part of a “dangerous escalation” targeting religious and social figures in an effort to incite sectarian tensions.

“The crime will not go unpunished,” the ministry said at the time, adding that authorities had launched an investigation to identify those responsible.

Iran’s foreign ministry later “strongly condemned” the attack, calling it an act of terrorism and saying attacks on religious sites and clerics in Syria were part of a “US-Israeli conspiracy to incite strife and division among the countries of the region.”

Tehran also urged Syria’s transitional authorities to ensure protection for all Syrians “across all ethnic, religious, and sectarian components.”

Mansour, who originally hailed from Deir ez-Zor province, was a member of a council representing Syria’s Shiite sect and had met Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in March 2025 as part of outreach efforts to religious and community leaders.

ISIS has previously claimed attacks targeting Shiite religious sites and clerics in Syria and neighboring countries.