Fars Governor: Main Perpetrators of Attack on Ali Motahari Identified

The governor of Fars announced that in the final moments of Saturday, March 13, the "main perpetrators" of the attack on Ali Motahari, a member of parliament, have been identified and referred to the judicial authorities of the province. Mohammad Ahmadi did not provide further details regarding the "main perpetrators" of this attack but promised that "the identification of other factors and facilitators of this undesirable and norm-breaking act is under investigation and necessary action is being taken." Mr. Ahmadi also added that the identification of the perpetrators of this attack was carried out following the "explicit order" of the President and the "repeated emphasis" of the Minister of Interior regarding the "precise identification and decisive action against the attackers of Ali Motahari's vehicle." Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, has ordered the Ministers of Intelligence and Interior to pursue the issue of the attack on Ali Motahari in Shiraz. Meanwhile, Mohammad Reza Sadegh, media advisor to Hassan Rouhani, stated on Friday that if the governor of Fars cannot deal with the perpetrators of the events in Shiraz and the attack on Ali Motahari, he should resign from his position. Ali Motahari, a representative from Tehran in parliament, who traveled to Shiraz on March 9 for a speech at Shiraz University, was "assaulted by plainclothes forces" at the airport and was ultimately forced to return to Tehran. On Saturday, March 13, after the remarks of the Friday Prayer Leader of Shiraz, he introduced him as the primary accused in the attack against him. Asadollah Imani, the Friday Prayer Leader of Shiraz, on Friday, March 22, implicitly attributed Ali Motahari to "tyranny" and "sedition," stating, "If someone breaks the sanctity of the guardianship and the experts and sedition, should they expect that others will not break their sanctity?" The Friday Prayer Leader of Shiraz reiterated his previous remarks about Mr. Motahari on Saturday, saying, "When a representative in parliament is confronted with a punch due to the warnings of his colleagues while speaking, he should expect that in society, some will also confront him with punches, and this is the essence of the proverb: If you sow the wind, you will reap the storm." According to the website Asr Iran, Mr. Imani stated that Mr. Motahari's letter is not worthy of response and added, "This gentleman uses foul, ugly, and obscene language due to the lack of a logical response." He emphasized, "A great injustice is being done to Fars province, and the conditions of Fars province are being unjustly broken, while in other provinces worse and more incidents have occurred, but this has not been exaggerated." Meanwhile, in recent days, different statements have been made regarding the perpetrators of the attack on Mr. Motahari by principlist political figures. Hamid Rasai, a representative from the Stability Front in parliament, stated, "The incident that occurred in Shiraz is not the work of Hezbollah youth, and if someone who did this claims so, like those who talk about moderation, they are lying." Meanwhile, according to Khabar Online, Mohiuddin Haeri Shirazi, a member of the Assembly of Experts and former Friday Prayer Leader of Shiraz, stated that the perpetrators of the attack on Mr. Motahari were "not thugs and hooligans, but young, prayerful, loyal individuals ready to sacrifice for Islam." Ali Motahari, on Tuesday, March 10, regarding the attackers, said, "Apparently, an accepted principle was that these individuals, as indicated by their equipment such as heavy motorcycles and pepper spray, were given orders from somewhere." "Heavy motorcycles" are typically used by military and Basij forces in Iran. Mr. Motahari's statements come as Gholamhossein Ghaibparvar, the commander of the Fars IRGC, stated, "We oppose such despicable behaviors like stone-throwing and strongly condemn them." In recent days, some members of parliament have also condemned the attack on Mr. Motahari. Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, also called on the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Intelligence to take "serious action" regarding the attack on Mr. Motahari during a public session of parliament on Sunday. He added, "Those who engage in these matters should note that their actions have no religious justification, no revolutionary justification, and no legal justification." Previously, Mr. Motahari's request for the removal of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, two candidates who protested the results of the 2009 presidential election, has repeatedly caused protests from supporters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. For instance, on January 11, the "attack" by some members of parliament on Ali Motahari, the representative from Tehran, and the physical altercation following his repeated request for the removal of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Karroubi during a speech led to a temporary suspension of the public session of parliament. In this context, Rouhani's "order" to pursue the perpetrators of the attack on Motahari in Shiraz, Motahari's response to the implicit support of the Friday Prayer Leader of Shiraz for the attack on him, and the news that "a delegation from the National Security Council is going to Shiraz" have emerged. The advisor to Hassan Rouhani called for the resignation of the governor of Fars. Following the attack on Motahari, the governor of Fars was summoned to Tehran.