World Tribune.com

Governor injured as violence in Iran continues

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, August 31, 2000

NICOSIA - The governor of Iran's Lorestan province was seriously injured after hard-line vigilantes attacked him while attending the funeral of a police officer killed in earlier riots.

Nurollah Abedi was severely beaten before he was rescued by police, the Teheran-based daily Kayhan paper reported.

Prior to the attack, Islamic vigiliantes in the city of Khorramabad clashed with reformist students attending a student conference on democracy organized by the pro-Khatami Office to Consolidate Unity.

The conference in western Iran sparked the latest outbreak of violence which left two the policemen dead and 30 students injured, Middle East Newsline reported.

Violent confrontations began earlier, following several days of demonstrations protesting the banning of two prominent reformists -- Abdolkarim Soroush and Mohsen Kadivar of Teheran University -- from addressing the student conference.

At least 20 students and policemen were seriously injured during the rioting that ensued. Stores, banks and municipal buildings were also damaged in the clashes. Several rioters were arrested.

''Police officer Ardeshir Karami was killed Sunday evening during clashes with opportunists and rioters who smashed windows of shops causing damages to public and private properties,'' Teheran Radio said.

The students aborted the meeting but the bus carrying them back to Teheran was attacked in city of Boroujerd. Assailants who hurled bricks and stones as it was passing through, injuring several students.

On Tuesday, the OCU held a press conference in Teheran.

"Avoiding anarchism is the continuation of active peace policy and the students would respond to even armed attacks of the violent seekers with a smile," the students said. They pledged to remain calm but to continue the fight for more social and political reforms.

On Sunday, a police officer was killed and two others wounded in a grenade attack in Teheran.

Early Monday, five mortar shells were fired at the Heshmatieh army barracks in east Teheran. No casualties or damage was reported. The barracks were once used as a jail for captured Iraqi soldiers.

In other developments, Iranian troops killed dozens of fighters from the Iraq-based opposition People's Mujahedeen in operations overnight Saturday, military sources said.

The sources said the Mujahedeen forces had been trying to cross into Iran near the city of Meymeh in the border province of Ilam but were stopped by Iranian ground troops.

Three Iranian soldiers were also killed in the clashes.

In an unrelated development, an Iranian Jewish Member of Parliament is part of the eight-member Iranian delegation attending Monday's Interparliamentary Millennium Conference in New York.

"I hope to discharge my duty well as a representative of Iran and the Iranian Jewish community at the conference in New York," Moris Motamed said "I will talk about the President's [Mohammad Khatami] proposed Dialog Among Civilizations, and will tell the conference that since 2,500 years ago that Jews have been living in Iran, a continuous dialogue has been taking place within the heart of the Iranian community and that the followers of all other religions are currently living in peaceful coexistence with their Muslim brethren in Iran."

Meanwhile, 13 Iranian Jews convicted of espionage for Israel have appealed their sentences. The appeals court is expected to announce a decision in September.

Thursday, August 31, 2000

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