The 'Main Instigator' of the Attack on Ali Motahari Identified

Ali Motahari's lawyer announced that the 'instigators' of the attack on his client in Shiraz have identified the 'main instigator', and Mr. Motahari stated that this person's position has been 'promoted' following the attack. According to ISNA news agency, the trial session for the 'instigators' of the attack on Ali Motahari was held on Saturday, September 2, in the first branch of the military court in Fars province. Mustafa Torkhamdani, Ali Motahari's lawyer, reported that in this session, the defendants identified the 'main instigator' who called for a gathering at Shiraz airport and attacked his client. Before the court session, Mr. Motahari had stated in a letter that if the 'main instigator' were identified, he would consider announcing his consent regarding the 'instigators' of this incident, whose trial is currently ongoing. In this letter, Ali Motahari also wrote without naming the person that 'the main instigator, whom we all know and unfortunately has been promoted, I will not name for the sake of his dignity, and I will not file a complaint against him.' He had previously implied that the assailants and instigators of the attack on him at Shiraz airport on March 9, 2015, were affiliated with the Basij and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), but no official has yet confirmed this. Some websites, including Saham News, reported that Gholamhossein Ghaibparvar, the head of the Basij Organization, played a role in issuing the order for the attack on Ali Motahari when he was the commander of the Fajr Corps in Fars province. However, he reacted to this incident by stating: 'We oppose such vulgar actions like stone-throwing and strongly condemn them, and the insightful and loyal people know well the behind-the-scenes scenario of such events.' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, appointed Gholamhossein Ghaibparvar as the head of the Basij Organization on December 8, 2016, and Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the head of this organization, as the cultural and social deputy of the IRGC. The head of the Basij had previously labeled Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, leaders of the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election, and Mohammad Khatami, former president of Iran, as 'politically impure' and stated that these three would not be 'purified' without expressing remorse. In December 2016, after the cancellation of Mr. Motahari's speech at the Arbaeen ceremony in Mashhad, Alireza Rashidian, the governor of Razavi Khorasan, stated that the Mashhad prosecutor's office canceled the deputy speaker's speech based on a letter from the IRGC's intelligence. However, the next day, Ramadan Sharif, the spokesperson for the IRGC, denied the role of this organization in preventing Ali Motahari's speech. Some of Ali Motahari's positions, including his repeated calls for the end of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, have led to severe protests from supporters of the Supreme Leader. In the initial proceedings in branch 101 of the Shiraz criminal court regarding the attack on Mr. Motahari, six assailants were sentenced to two months in prison and 10 lashes, which was suspended for two years, and two other defendants received sentences of four and a half months in prison and 37 lashes, which were also suspended for one year. Meanwhile, a student who had invited Ali Motahari was fined one million tomans for 'aiding in the refusal of university orders and regulations', and the president and deputy of Shiraz University were sentenced to two years of suspension from service, which was also suspended for two years. The Supreme Court annulled the sentence issued for the president and deputy of Shiraz University in May and sent it back for reconsideration.