Iran Officials Arrested in Slayings
By Afshin Valinejad
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, January 6, 1999
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- In a rare admission of official complicity, Iran
has arrested several Intelligence Ministry officials in the slayings of
five dissidents, the government acknowledged.
In a statement given to the official Islamic Republic News Agency,
the Intelligence Ministry announced ``with regret'' on Tuesday that it
had arrested a number of ministry officials. It did not say how many.
``A few of our colleagues -- irresponsible, devious and obstinate persons
-- were among those arrested,'' it said.
The five writers and opposition figures killed late last year were
all critical of the government's hard-line clergymen, who are trying to
stymie the social and political reforms of moderate President Mohammad
Khatami.
Thousands of students and intellectuals had demonstrated to protest
the killings and called for the dismissal of Iranian intelligence officials.
The ministry also accused foreign countries of being involved in the
killings, but did not say which ones.
``With no doubt these criminals were acting for the interests of foreigners
and the actions of these traitors are quite contrary to the holy mission
of the Intelligence Ministry and we condemn it,'' the ministry said.
The first of the five victims, Dariush Foruhar and his wife Parvaneh,
belonged to a minor opposition party. They were found stabbed to death
in their Tehran home on Nov. 22.
In the following weeks, writers Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh and Mohammad
Mokhtari disappeared and their bodies were found dumped on the outskirts
of Tehran. They appeared to have been strangled. Both men had tried to
set up a writer's association. A third writer, Majid Sharif, was found
dead after disappearing from his home.
Khatami has ordered a top-level investigation into the killings.
Also Tuesday, a senior hard-line judge was slightly injured in an assassination
attempt when a man on a motorcycle threw a hand grenade at him, security
officials said. There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.
Hojatolislam Ali Razini, the head of the Tehran judiciary, was slightly
injured in the leg, IRNA reported. The attack reportedly killed a passer-by
and injured Razini's driver and two pedestrians.
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