Militia bomb home of Iranian dissident

Published on Friday 3 September 2010 16:21

Militiamen attacked the home of an Iranian opposition leader with homemade bombs and beat one of his bodyguards unconscious.

The attack was reported on an opposition website which said it was an apparent attempt to keep Mahdi Karroubi from attending a key rally yesterday.

His guards fired shots in the air to clear crowds that broke down the door of his home on Thursday night, said the Sahamnews website, which supports Iran's pro-reform movement.

The website said the attackers were members of the Basij militia, which led the crackdown on protests in response to allegations of fraud in President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's June 2009 re-election.

Mr Karroubi was one of the pro-reform candidates who ran against Mr Ahmadinejad.

Crowds encircled Mr Karroubi's residence as Iranians filled Tehran's streets for the annual rally known as Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day. Last year, Mr Karroubi and other opposition leaders used it to gather tens of thousands of their own supporters, and violent clashes broke out with security forces.

Hard-line protesters have gathered at his home for several days, believing he would try to attend the rally. At the event, Mr Ahmadinejad dismissed the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, saying "the fate of Palestine will be decided in Palestine through resistance, not in Washington".