Promise of 'Decisive Action' Against Acid Attack Perpetrator in Mashhad

On Thursday, December 4, the public prosecutor and revolutionary prosecutor of Mashhad announced decisive action by the judiciary against the perpetrator of an acid attack in this city. According to the news agency Mizan, Gholamali Sadeghi mentioned the 'heavy punishment for specific and violent crimes, including acid attacks,' stating: 'The perpetrator of this crime was arrested and handed over to the law following the efforts of law enforcement, given the importance and sensitivity of the matter.' The public prosecutor of Mashhad noted that the head of the judiciary in Khorasan Razavi province emphasized 'decisive action against any law-breaking and crime, especially in the area of specific and violent crimes.' The Mizan report did not provide details about this acid attack, but some news agencies and websites reported on December 2 that a man had thrown acid on his wife, his wife's friend, and an 11-year-old girl. In this regard, Bahman Amiri Moghadam, the police chief of Khorasan Razavi, stated: 'A person who committed the acid attack out of family disputes and with the intent of revenge against his wife was arrested in Mashhad.' This police official announced that the incident occurred on November 16 and added that the suspect was arrested on December 1 in his hideout and confessed to committing the acid attack due to family disputes. He mentioned that investigations into the 35-year-old suspect are ongoing, and the condition of the three victims of this incident is satisfactory, and they have been discharged from the hospital due to improvement. Previously, rumors about acid attacks in Mashhad had prompted a reaction from the head of the judiciary in Khorasan Razavi province. Ali Mozaffari announced on November 8 that individuals in Mashhad had been arrested whom he referred to as 'rumor-mongers of acid attacks.' He accused these individuals of spreading rumors and disturbing public order, stating: 'No cases of acid attacks have occurred in Khorasan Razavi province.' This announcement came after rumors of the recurrence of acid attacks, including in Mashhad, following the acid attack incidents in Isfahan. However, more than a month after the acid attacks in Isfahan, no perpetrator or perpetrators have been arrested. This situation led to street protests in the days following the publication of the acid attack incidents in Isfahan. Meanwhile, some members of parliament have criticized the failure to arrest the perpetrator or perpetrators of these incidents. Amid rising rumors and reports about the connection of these attacks with the issue of 'promotion of virtue and prevention of vice,' Iranian officials stated that there is no connection between the two. In recent years, news about acid attacks has been published in the media. According to the latest statistics announced by Esmail Ahmadi Moghadam, the commander of the Iranian police, the number of acid attacks from the beginning of the Persian year until November 21 of this year has been 318 cases.