Reformist presidential hopeful attacked in Iran

Africasia:

The leading reformist candidate in Iran's presidential election was attacked at a campaign rally Friday, a day after a fellow liberal suffered a fractured skull when he was set upon by an extremist mob.

After holding a speech in the southern town of Borazjan in Bushehr province, Mustafa Moin and his supporters were attacked by some protesters, as he left the mosque where he had given a campaign speech. He was unhurt. READ MORE

The protesters broke a window of the mosque and chanted: "Death to the hypocrite".

Moin was protected by his supporters and led to his bus, but a confrontation followed between people outside the mosque and the protesters.

Another top reformer, Behzad Nabavi, said his skull was fractured, his face bruised and clothing ripped by the attackers who used tear-gas, chains and sticks during an attack Thursday in Qom, Iran's clerical epicentre.

"About 30 people tried to disturb the speech from the beginning, but they failed ... After the speech, I was told by police that everything was okay for leaving the place, but pressure groups attacked us," Nabavi told the student news agency ISNA.

The gang also attacked police when they stepped in to stop the violence, Navabi said, adding that some of them were arrested after he complained.

Nabavi is a senior member of the reformist party Mujahedeen of Islamic Revolution Organization (MIRO), which backs Moin's bid for the June 17 presidential elections.

Moin's campaign headquarters in Tehran on Friday also reported attacks on its supporters in the western town of Hamedan after a campaign speech.

"Pressure groups attacked the campaign base of Moin in Hamedan after a speech by students ... The attackers beat up some of the campaign members and escaped," said the head of Moin's campaign in Hamedan, Hossein Loghmanian.

A campaign speech by the leader of the opposition party Iran Freedom Movement, Ebrahim Yazdi, was also cancelled "because the police announced it could not provide security" and the sound system was cut, he added in a statement.

"It is completely obvious that these (incidents) are organised by an official establishment focused against Moin's campaigns, because using tear-gas, handcuffs and organised actions on one single day indicate that they are not ordinary people or supporters of other candidates," Nabavi said.

"This evening, I was supposed to hold a speech in downtown Tehran. They have said 'if he comes here, we kill him'. So, we had to cancel the program against my will."

Several candidates have already complained in the past week of coming under attack by vigilante gangs.

Supporters of race frontrunner Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said arsonists and gangs spraying graffiti had launched simultaneous attacks against their campaign offices in Tehran and several other cities.

And last week, hardline vigilantes assaulted President Mohammad Khatami's brother Mohammad Reza, who leads Iran's main reformist party, during a campaign rally in Hamedan province for Moin.

The eight candidates running for the presidency were told Tuesday to clean up their act ahead of the polls, amid reports of attacks on campaign headquarters and smear tactics.

The interior ministry, which is organising the elections, said the municipalities and police were responsible for stopping such acts but "so far they have disobeyed orders and not done anything".