- Iran: Eight Prisoners Hanged on Drug Charges
- Daughter of late Iranian president jailed for ‘spreading lies’ - IRAN: Annual report on the death penalty 2016 - Taheri Facing the Death Penalty Again - Dedicated team seeking return of missing agent in Iran - Iran Arrests 2, Seizes Bibles During Catholic Crackdown
- Trump to welcome Netanyahu as Palestinians fear U.S. shift
- Details of Iran nuclear deal still secret as US-Tehran relations unravel - Will Trump's Next Iran Sanctions Target China's Banks? - Don’t ‘tear up’ the Iran deal. Let it fail on its own. - Iran Has Changed, But For The Worse - Iran nuclear deal ‘on life support,’ Priebus says
- Female Activist Criticizes Rouhani’s Failure to Protect Citizens
- Iran’s 1st female bodybuilder tells her story - Iranian lady becomes a Dollar Millionaire on Valentine’s Day - Two women arrested after being filmed riding motorbike in Iran - 43,000 Cases of Child Marriage in Iran - Woman Investigating Clinton Foundation Child Trafficking KILLED!
- Senior Senators, ex-US officials urge firm policy on Iran
- In backing Syria's Assad, Russia looks to outdo Iran - Six out of 10 People in France ‘Don’t Feel Safe Anywhere’ - The liberal narrative is in denial about Iran - Netanyahu urges Putin to block Iranian power corridor - Iran Poses ‘Greatest Long Term Threat’ To Mid-East Security |
Thursday 19 March 2015Suspects Identified, but No Action Taken in Attack against Critic of House Arrests
Despite the fact that several suspects have been identified in the recent attack on Member of Parliament Ali Motahari, who was the Iranian Parliament’s most outspoken critic of the continued house arrest of the Green Movement leaders, no arrests have been made so far, according to official statements. “Based on various evidence, including photos and video, 10 suspects have been identified and the prosecutor is due to take necessary steps,” said Hossein Zolfaghari, Deputy Interior Minister in charge of Law Enforcement and Security. Earlier, Interior Ministry Spokesman Hosseinali Amiri had said that between 50 and 200 individuals had taken part in the March 9 attack in Shiraz. “There is 20 minutes of film available from this incident with the [attackers’] faces almost clearly visible,” he said, but added that no one had yet been arrested. Motahari, a conservative Member of Parliament, has outraged radicals for repeatedly questioning the legality of keeping opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard under house arrest for more than four years. Motahari was due to make a speech in Shiraz when the taxi taking him from the airport was attacked by a gang wielding sticks and stones. They broke the car’s windows and pepper-sprayed the MP, who suffered breathing problems. A week after the incident, Shiraz Governor Mohammad Ahmadi told the press that the attackers had been identified and reported to judicial authorities. Yet neither the governor nor Interior Ministry officials have given any details of the suspects. President Hassan Rouhani formed a special task force with instructions to pursue and arrest the attackers. The Majlis and Judiciary have also announced their own investigations. Meanwhile, Motahari’s lawyer, Mostafa Tork Hamadani, has also become a target. “I went to Shiraz on Friday (March 13) to follow up this case. When I came back from visiting the tomb of Seyyed Alaeddin Hossein, I saw my car had been attacked with bricks and all the windows had been broken and the words ‘First Warning’ had been sprayed on the car,” Hamadani told the ILNA news agency. Despite official condemnation of the incidents in Shiraz, the city’s Friday Prayer leader has tacitly defended the attackers. In his March 13 sermon, Ayatollah Assadollah Imani said, “If someone breaks the sanctum of the Supreme Leader, should he not expect his own sanctum to be broken? If you sow seeds of the wind, you will reap a storm.” In response, Ali Motahari wrote a letter to Imani insisting that he would not allow a storm caused by thugs to create a suffocating atmosphere. International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran |