Iran Daily reports that a suicide bomber apparently targeting a meeting of US-allied Sunni sheikhs penetrated layers of security and blew himself up in a hotel lobby on Monday, killing four tribal leaders and at least eight others, police reported. The sheikhs were associated with the Anbar Salvation Council, which had taken up arms to help drive extremists of Al-Qaeda in Iraq from the western province of Anbar, AP reported. The attack was among five suicide and other bombings Monday that killed at least 45 people across Iraq.

The BBC reports that a Shia cleric known for his stance against Wahhabism, a strict version of Sunni Islam, has been killed in the south-western Iranian city of Ahwaz. Reports said Hojjat ol-Eslam Hesham Seymari was shot dead in his home at night by two men claiming to know him. Wahhabism is practised throughout the Arabian Peninsula, most notably by the ruling family of Saudi Arabia. Ahwaz, home to a large community of ethnic minority Arabs, has seen much anti-government tension since 2005. Iran has publicly hanged 10 men convicted of taking part in a series of deadly bombings in the city last year, which were blamed on Arab separatists allegedly backed by the UK. The separatists have accused Iran’s Persian majority of discrimination. Reporting Hojjat ol-Eslam Seymari’s death on Tuesday, the hardline Iranian newspaper Keyhan described the cleric as a “skilful speaker who brought awareness to the youth about deviating movements, especially Wahhabism”. Hojjat ol-Eslam Seymari supervised 20 mosques and “stood against the Wahhabis’ investment and strong onslaught in the city of Ahvaz”, the paper added. The representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader in Khuzestan Province said the cleric had been martyred “at the hands of the mercenaries of Satan”. “Our enemies should know that his martyrdom will guide the nation, keep alive the values and principles of the exalted Muslim faith,” Mohammad Ali Jazayeri said in a statement.

It is significant that the Salafi Resistance is willing to simultaneously fight on two fronts against both the Sunnis opposed to Al-Qaeda and against the Shia. Even more significant is the fact that the Iranians accuse the Salafis of being backed by the UK while, at the same time, the Sunnis killed in Anbar are described as “allied to the US”.

Which is Oceania fighting again? Eastasia or Eurasia?!