Parastou Faruhar, daughter of Iranian opposition leader
Daryush Foruhar and Parvaneh Foruhar, stands December 28 in Tehran between
huge paintings of her father and mother who were assassinated in Iran November
22. Photo by Behrouz Mehri, AFP
Opposition group blames regime for Foruhar's murder
TEHRAN, Dec 28 (AFP) - An Iranian nationalist opposition movement accused
the intelligence services on Monday of a role in the murder last month
of its leader Daryush Foruhar and his wife.
"I explicitly declare that these murders could not have been committed
without collaboration from, coordination with and knowledge of a part of
the intelligence services," said Bahram Namazi, a member of the Party
of the Iranian Nation (PIN).
Namazi, speaking before a crowd of around 100 people gathered at Foruhar's
home in central Tehran, where he was stabbed to death on
November 22 along with his wife Parvaneh, said the murders "are
a disgrace for the regime."
The couple's assassination preceded the kidnapping and murder of two
secular intellectuals -- Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammadeh
Pouyandeh -- by anonymous killers early this month.
Another writer, Majid Sharif, was found dead under mysterious circumstances.
The authorities said he had died of heart attack.
Iranian authorities have condemned the chain of killings and blamed
them on a "foreign enemy plot" aimed at undermining the Islamic
regime.
"It is not acceptable to say agents have come from abroad to kill
opposition personalities," said Namazi, who serves as a spokesman
for PIN, a secular movement banned but tolerated here.
Foruhar's daughter, Parastu, also criticized the investigation launched
by the police into the murders, saying they "searched our home and
took away personal documents."
"No one has told us what has become of the documents and personal
belongings of my parents," she complained in a speech to the crowd
gathered to celebrate the late Foruhar's birthday.
Parastu, who lives in Germany, planted two fir trees in the garden of
her parent's home in their memory.
