Is the Attacker of Student Girls in Jahrom a Basij Member?

Following an attack on several girls in Jahrom County (south of Fars Province) where they were stabbed by an unknown individual or individuals, a person identified as a Basij member and the son of a Revolutionary Guard colonel was ultimately arrested, according to the website "Saham News." On Sunday, December 9, Mohammad Reza Rezaei-Koochi, the representative of Jahrom in the Iranian parliament, told the conservative news outlet "Iran News" that the accused, Mohammad Beheshti Far, 22, is the son of a Revolutionary Guard colonel named Jalil Beheshti Far. However, this parliament member did not confirm the Basij affiliation of Jalil Beheshti Far's son. Official news sources from Iran report that in the past two weeks, at least six knife attacks on young girls in Jahrom have caused public fear and even led to student protests in the city. Meanwhile, the Saham News website, close to Mehdi Karroubi, a candidate who protested the 2009 presidential election and is currently under house arrest, reported on Sunday that following these security issues, a security council meeting was held in the Jahrom governor's office with student representatives, and the governor promised that the created insecurity in Jahrom would be addressed by establishing regular police patrols around the university and student dormitories. According to media reports, in all cases, the attacker stabbed the girls in the buttocks, but in the latest incident, a girl was attacked along with her mother, and in this case, the girl's abdomen was stabbed. After this incident, it appears that a surveillance camera identified the attacker's face, and with the police's follow-up, the assailant was arrested. As Saham News reported, the assailant was arrested on Thursday, December 6, and it was revealed that Mohammad Beheshti Far, 22, is a member of the Basij in "Qotbabad," a district of Jahrom. It is said that his father, Colonel Jalil Beheshti Far, is currently the commander of the Basij in Qotbabad (a village located 10 kilometers from Jahrom). On the other hand, the Fars news agency, close to the Revolutionary Guards, claimed in a report that the arrested individual was a thug and was apprehended with the help of Basij members. This news agency also denied the assailant's Basij affiliation and any connection between the attacks and the "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice," attributing it to the alleged fabrications of what it calls "anti-regime media." Previously, Hojjatollah Rezaei, the head of the Jahrom governor's office and the head of the security council in this county, told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Saturday that "with the efforts of security, police, judicial, Basij, and popular forces, the perpetrator of insecurity and harassment in the streets of Jahrom was arrested in less than 72 hours." According to Saham News, Mohammad Beheshti Far stated in initial interrogations that he carried out these actions after hearing the words of a prominent cleric who deemed "spilling the blood of the improperly veiled as permissible" and that his goal was "to take practical action against vice." However, Mohammad Reza Rezaei-Koochi, the representative of Jahrom in parliament, told the "Iran News" outlet that Jalil Beheshti Far (the father of the accused) handed his son over to judicial authorities after learning about his attack on six women in Jahrom. Mr. Rezaei-Koochi added that the actions of this Revolutionary Guards member's son were not organized and had no connection to the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The statements of this representative confirm reports that Mohammad Beheshti Far is the son of a Revolutionary Guards member in the village of Qotbabad. The recent violence against young girls in Jahrom occurs less than three months after a series of acid attacks on women and girls in Isfahan sparked reactions from Iranians. As of the writing of this report, the perpetrator or perpetrators of these acid attacks have not been apprehended. The emergence of these physical violences coincides with warnings from some Friday prayer leaders and religious authorities about the spread of what they term improper veiling in Iranian society and the approval of a bill "to support those who promote virtue and prevent vice" in the Islamic Consultative Assembly.