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| 'Suspicious' attack on Karroubi to be probed |
| 2009-07-19 |
| A probe will be launched into the assault on one of the presidential candidates Mehdi Karroubi in Friday prayers on July 17, Tehran Governor General says. Morteza Tamaddon told Fars news agency that the attack will go under investigation as it was considered "suspicious." He also called on security forces to identify and arrest those behind the attack. "In our opinion, this incident is not a usual one. Suspicious elements have surely had a hand in masterminding and carrying out the plan," Tamaddon said. Defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi was attacked by unidentified men without uniforms on his way to Friday prayers, the website of his party Etemad-e Melli reported on Friday. The website quoted his son Hossein Karroubi as saying that the veteran reformist cleric was beaten by men without uniforms when he got out of the car in front of Tehran University where the public prayer was being held. "His turban fell. They insulted him and called him very offensive and outrageous names," his son added. Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi took part in this week's Friday prayers led by the Chairman of Iran's Expediency Council, Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani. Hundreds of thousands of people attended the prayers, the first since the disputed election led by Rafsanjani, with thousands of Mousavi supporters taking to the streets after the prayers in a spontaneous demonstration. The security forces responded by the use of tear gas and baton charges to disperse the protesters. Despite the official confirmation of the June 12 presidential election results which gave a second term to the incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with two-thirds of the votes, Karroubi and Mousavi and many of their supporters continue to reject the veracity of the results. |
| Posted by:Fred |