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Iranian President's Ally Stabbed by Unknown Assailants
A close ally of reformist Iranian President Mohammad Khatami was stabbed and injured by unknown assailants Monday night, when he was on his way back home, the official IRNA news agency reported Tuesday morning.
Sources from the pro-reform Islamic Revolutionary Mujahedin Organization (IRMO) was quoted as saying Mohammad Salamati, IRMO's secretary general, was attacked late Monday night near his residence in northern Tehran by two unidentified assailants.
"The assailants had firstly grabbed his briefcase, and when he chased them for his case, he was injured by stabbing and the motion nerve of his left hand was cut," according to Feizollah Arab Sorkhi, a core member of the IRMO.
Salamati has been hospitalized after the incident and faces the risk of his left hand being paralyzed, Arab Sorkhi said, adding that the police have launched an extensive investigation into the incident.
IRMO, a strong supporter of Khatami's reform agenda, was established in 1980 after the victory of the Islamic Revolution through the merger of several militia groups who fought against the former regime.
There is no official confirmation at the moment on whether the attack was politically motivated.
The incident occurred just two days before the reformist President Khatami is to take oath in the Majlis (parliament) following a political stand-off between the Majlis and the country's judiciary body.
In May, Salamati, as the director of the Asr-e Maa (Our Era) magazine, was found guilty of "spreading lies" and defamation by Tehran's press court.
last December, Salamati caused wide-spread concern by claiming in a Tehran university campus that the nation's powerful conservatives were seeking to impeach Khatami because of his " inability" to carry out his constitutional duties.
The claim was later denied by the Tehran judiciary, which said it would pursue the case.
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