DUBAI: Tehran police shot dead a man who attacked a clergyman and other people with a knife at a metro station on Saturday, Iranian state television reported.

Hadi Tamhidi, deputy governor of the Shar-e Rey district in south Tehran, said the unidentified man attacked the clergyman with a knife after a dispute, and injured another man.

Police shot and wounded the assailant, who later died of his injuries, Tamhidi said, adding that the assailant was mentally "unbalanced".

A spokesman for the metro said traffic at the Shar-e Rey station had returned to normal after the incident.