Calls for Security Overhaul after Attack on MP

A mob riding motorcycles attacked Tehran MP Ali Motahari at Shiraz Airport on March 11.

The controversial politician, who was due to give a speech at Shiraz University, suffered facial injuries in the attack, which some reports say involved up to 50 unknown assailants. The crowd also pelted the MP with bricks and tomatoes.

According to Iranian Students’ News Agency, the deputy interior minister, Hosseinali Amiri, called for an investigation into the incident and for an immediate assessment of the provincial government’s security protocols. He expressed regret that Motahari had endured the violent attack, but admitted that the situation could have been much worse. He also reprimanded the university for not taking steps to protect Motahari, and summoned the province’s governor to Tehran to discuss the matter.

“Those who invited Ali Motahari to give a speech had not informed the police and security forces about the exact time and the place of his arrival,” said Fars governor Seyed Mohammad Ahmadi. “Otherwise we would have made the required arrangements to welcome him at the pavilion and accompany him.” The governor explained that plans for the speech had gone ahead, despite Shiraz city council’s request that Motahari postpone the engagement for a few days. He said his office had put the request to the office of the governor of Jahrom, which has close ties with Motahari. Although Motahari had agreed to postpone the trip in principle, the governor said that it had been assumed the university had taken steps to reschedule the event. According to reports, the university failed to do this.

Deputy Interior Minister Hosseinali Amiri said security personnel and the Fars local government should have been aware of the potential security risks, given the political climate on Shiraz university campuses in recent months. There was, he said, an ongoing clash between Shiraz University and the city’s University of Medical Sciences, and it was not an appropriate time to have scheduled a speech by Motahari. “There are certain people and groups who try to blame the political authorities of the province for these incidents, but we should remember that if we had paid attention to the authorities, it would have not happened.”

Governor Ahmadi said the same group also tried to attack government official Ali Younesi at the airport, but were prevented from doing so. Younesi is a senior advisor to President Rouhani.

Ahmadi told the news website Entekhab that his officials would identify the perpetrators of the crime and punish them accordingly. He said the provincial security council had issued an apology to Motahari and was taking every step to ensure no similar incidents took place in future.

The controversial Motahari caused outrage during a session in parliament in January when he raised the subject of the ongoing house arrest of Green Movement leaders. A number of other MPs physically assaulted him following his comments. Prior to this, he had been regularly criticized by some of Iran’s most prominent hardliner politicians. 

Links to the original articles in Persian here and here