Hardliners attack the car of Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karrubi in Qazvin

January 08, 2010

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Opposition Leader Karrubi Attacked, Uninjured

On the night of Jan. 7, . Radio Farda has an exclusive interview with Hossein Karrubi, Karrubi’s son, regarding this incident.

Hossein Karrubi said his father was invited by Naser Ghavami, a former Qazvin MP, to attend a religious ceremony marking the month of Muharram. Minutes after Karrubi’s arrival at Ghavami’s home, roughly 500 pro-government demonstrators arrived in buses. Karrubi’s security guards assert that many of them were armed, and some of them were army soldiers and commanders.

They surrounded the house and started chanting pro-Khamenei slogans and insulting Karrubi, he said. They also threw stones and bricks at the house, which broke some windows. After four hours, and with police assistance, Karrubi left the house by car. While he was driving away, some of the gathered protestors threw eggs and bricks at the car. Two bullets were fired that hit the front and back window of the car. The car was bulletproof, and no one was injured.

When asked whether Mehdi Karrubi intends to file a complaint about the incident, Karrubi’s son replied, “To whom should [the elder Karrubi] complain when the system supports [the protestors]?  Part of our judiciary belongs to the army, so what can he really do?”

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Iranians Abroad Hold Symbolic Solidarity Strike

Scores of Iranians living abroad have agreed to go on . They signed a statement pledging to stop working, for the whole day or a few hours, and do something in support of the protestors. Radio Farda speaks with renowned Iranian-French photojournalist Reza Deghati, who signed the statement, about the goals of the strike.

“We are trying to attract people’s attention to this catastrophe that is going on in Iran,” Deghati said. He said that hundreds of people pledged to go on this symbolic strike.

“Right now any kind of action is important in order to spread the Iranians’ voice around the globe,” Deghati said. “This brutal government should not feel that it can do whatever it wants. These actions will continue until this regime collapses.”

This protest is not the only action Deghati has taken to raise awareness of the plight of protestors in Iran. He has also run a “We are all Neda” campaign in Paris and New York. During these events, large groups of people gather together and hold the same photograph of Neda over their faces, an image that Deghati then documents. He plans to run this campaign in several other cities around the world.

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Below: Voice of America Persian Broadcast interview with Karubi’s son, Hossein regarding the attack on his father in Qazvin. Video added by Planet Iran editors.