Verbal Conflict Between Amol Representative and Deputy Minister of Agriculture Escalates to Physical Altercation

Iranian news agencies reported a 'verbal' and 'physical' altercation between Khalil Aqaee, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, and Ezzatollah Yusefian, the Amol representative in Parliament, during a public session on Tuesday, June 8. While the Deputy Minister accused the Amol representative of 'using vulgar language' and 'tearing' his shirt collar, the representative claimed that the Deputy Minister had 'torn his own shirt collar.' According to the state news agency IRNA, after the altercation, 'many' representatives gathered around the Deputy Minister, and one representative 'put his hand over his mouth to prevent him from shouting.' The report stated that ultimately, several representatives escorted the Deputy Minister out of the Parliament's public session. Following the altercation, Ezzatollah Yusefian announced that northern representatives had written a letter to the Minister of Agriculture regarding the prevention of illegal rice imports, but the Deputy Minister 'became angry and also opened his collar.' However, according to ISNA, the Deputy Minister accused the Amol representative of 'tearing' his collar during the altercation and using 'vulgar and obscene words.' Khalil Aqaee added, 'During this argument and altercation, while my shirt collar was torn by him, I showed it to him as a sign of protest, and some media reported that I had torn my collar in Parliament.' He did not provide details but stated that this representative had an 'illegal demand' and 'when he could not fulfill his illegal demand, he resorted to arguing and using vulgar language and collar-grabbing.' Physical altercations between government officials and parliamentary representatives have a history in previous governments and parliaments. For instance, in December 2011, during the review of the interpretation of the targeted subsidy law in the public session of Parliament, Behrouz Moradi, head of the Targeted Subsidy Organization, and Hossein Hosseini, the representative of Fariman, got into a fight and slapped each other. During the altercation, the head of the Targeted Subsidy Organization referred to Parliament as an 'animal house,' which led to his expulsion from the public session. In previous terms, altercations among parliamentary representatives have often led to physical fights. For example, on January 11, 2015, after some representatives attempted to interrupt the speech of Ali Motahari, the representative of Tehran, regarding the lifting of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Karroubi, a physical altercation occurred between them and Mr. Motahari.