Ali Mousavi Was Assassinated, Iranian Police Say

(AP) TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's deputy police chief says the nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was assassinated by unidentified assailants and not killed by security forces.

Ali Mousavi was one of at least eight people killed during clashes Sunday when tens of thousands of opposition supporters protested against the government.

The opposition says Ali Mousavi was shot and killed by security forces. But Iran's deputy police chief, Ahmad Reza Radan, is quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying that the way he was killed suggests he was assassinated while walking.

The New York Times has quoted a family friend as saying Ali Mousavi was run over by a vehicle outside his home in an assassination.

Comments

[Ergon]

12:50 PM on 12/31/2009

FACTBOX: Who are the People's Mujahideen of Iran?
Mon Dec 28, 2009 4:01pm ESTRelated NewsExiled Iranian group urges sanctions for Tehran
Here are some details about the group:

World

* ORIGINS:

-- The People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) -- also known as the Mujahideen Khalq Organisation (MKO) -- is the main faction within the exiled opposition umbrella organisation, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

-Spread the (false) news about Iran's nuclear triggers.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BR34420091228

[J G H]

10:30 AM on 12/31/2009

That the man was assasinated is no surprise. That the assasination was perpetrated by the Iranian security forces would also not be a surprise.

[Ergon]

12:35 PM on 12/31/2009

If we know that for sure instead of just assuming?
Like poor Neda Soltan, the ready made martyr? A sniper. And we know it was by the govt. and not an opposition terra group like MEK or Jandallah, how?

[Quinterius]

02:14 PM on 12/31/2009

Please don't ask logical questions!

[Quinterius]

10:08 AM on 12/31/2009

HP should stop making political judgments on the posts that it publishes. Unless there is profanity or defamation, all posts should be published. HP is becoming useless as a political discussion medium.

[Intelligentia]

12:55 PM on 12/31/2009

I completely agree!

[boho77]

01:18 AM on 12/31/2009

There was a demonstration today in All Iran for the pro-Government people; According to AlJazeera; there were hundreds of thousands that attended: the Government gave them a day off so people can show their support. If this is true and that the pro government front is bigger, then I would say that we are wrong about Iran. I If Ahmadinajad won the election then the opposition is using the West for no legitimate reason. I still do not like the violence in the street but from the picture it looks that the opposition also took place in the violence by destroying and burning private and public buildings. A minority should not rule the country even if it is pro West and even if in term of numbers they are more than 100,000; it is still a minority knowing that the population of Iran is more than 70 millions. The government should not use force but they have the right to punish individuals that destroy public or private buildings/goods to maintain order.

[Oleg1]

07:06 AM on 12/31/2009

Absolute and unadulterated nonsense.

[Nicholas Roy]

09:56 AM on 12/31/2009

You said the government gave the pro-government protesters the day off. It probibly helped organise that rally, you know astro-turfing. Furthermore Green Movement protests have not been easy to organise with the government distrupting internet service and cell phone service and watching college campuses.

[Godweiser]

11:14 PM on 12/30/2009

Duh, he was assassinated. No, we don't believe that the assailants are 'unidentified' with no ties to the IRI or any other military, intelligence or paramilitary group affiliated with the regime. Mousavi's nephew got a-whackah'ed by da Dons....err, I mean da mullahs ordered it. :)

[ruhaba]

10:29 PM on 12/30/2009

They are right he was Assassinated BY IRANIAN POLICE just like NEDA and others.

[Beatriz09]

10:28 PM on 12/30/2009

Website that contains AMAZING videos of the protests ... especially the first one, where people are fighting the police and in the end winning the fight ... .

No free barbecues nor cookies for these demonstrators, but apparently no fear neither ... hugh crowds overwhelming the police ... this is really incredible.

How desperate do you have to be to risk your life in this way ... how angry ... ?

(Videos are at the end of the page)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2009/12/selected-headlines-99.html

[tuneone52]

07:34 PM on 12/30/2009

Iran will never be at peace till the people begin to consider the welfare of their country ahead of religion's difference.

[NeoConsAreFinished]

10:56 PM on 12/30/2009

America will never be at peace until we rid ourselves of our own religious fanatics aka the American Taliban.

[TalkingOutLoud]

01:03 AM on 12/31/2009

Thank you ... I can see no real difference; both claim special knowledge from God and both are willing to take lives to spread the word.

[Beatriz09]

06:36 PM on 12/30/2009

Link in English:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BT37P20091230

[Beatriz09]

06:25 PM on 12/30/2009

Breaking news: Reuters and AFP (Agence France Presse) now say that the son of Karhoubi told news agencies that the IRNA was lying when it suggested today that Mousavi and Karhoubi fled to the north of Iran ... .

He says he knows that they both are still in Tehran, he saw his father at 21h tonight.. .

The IRNA website apparently didn't mention their names but only spoke about "two leaders of the sedition" ... . The son of Kahroubi, Hosein, says the IRNA was spreading rumors of exile so to make people scared ... . His statements are on the websites Parlemannews and Sahamnews.

I'm looking for a link in English, the article I'm summarizing is from the French newspaper Le Monde (quality newspaper, center left), title: "Uncertainty concerning the fate of the Iranian opposition leaders".

http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2009/12/30/incertitude-sur-le-sort-des-chefs-de-l-opposition-iranienne_1286196_3218.html#ens_id=1190750

[Oleg1]

06:15 PM on 12/30/2009

Soon enough this very same Iranian police deputy will beg for mercy during his own trial.
I wonder if he's aware of that.

[Oleg1]

06:14 PM on 12/30/2009

"Iran's deputy police chief says the nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was assassinated by unidentified assailants and not killed by security forces."

Soon enough this very same deputy willl beg for mercy during his own trial.
I wonder if he's aware of that.

[Alberto66]

04:15 PM on 12/30/2009

How profound that a theocracy political system (the only one in the world) based on strict pious adherence to Islamic principles, comes out with such violence spewing and vicious incantations such as " we will crush you", "the opposition should be executed", and provides endless images of basij militia thugs who serve the God's representative ayatollah Khomenei, smashing unarmed people with clubs and shooting them. Some religion! Some values and beliefs!

It seems Muslims around the world don't have much to say about this as if they didn't feel it in any way defames their faith. Lets here Muslims protest about this outrage against humanity. It would be more effective than letting the President or other heads of state do all the condemning. It would strike at the heart of the evil that is inherent in the hearts of the current power mad thugs in charge of Iran.

[Oleg1]

04:39 PM on 12/30/2009

A coherent and eloquent post. Thank you.

[PWM]

05:04 PM on 12/30/2009

Excellent post. Fanned for its truth.

[skialethia]

02:41 PM on 12/30/2009

Who benefits from Iran's loss of legitimacy? Who is avidly encouraging civil war?

Here's Neta yahu's take:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1133347.html

[Beatriz09]

02:47 PM on 12/30/2009

Nobody's talking about IRAN's loss of legitimacy. What's happening right now is that in the eyes of more and more Iranians the CURRENT Iranian GOVERNMENT lost all legitimacy (that's very different) ... .

One of the obvious reasons is the fact that the government allows its militia to disturb religious mourning ceremonies, to throw stones at mosques etc.

If we would follow your logic, the day the Bush administration in the US lost its legitimacy in the eyes of Americans (which made them vote for Obama and the opposition), the US itself would have lost its legitimacy ... which is rather absurd, no ... ?

[skialethia]

03:17 PM on 12/30/2009

Net yahu is really trying to say: I already have my minions on the internet ensuring that the job of "stirring the pot" gets done.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Net yahu on Monday urged the West to use the social "power of the Internet" to counter the Iranian threat and the Islamic regime's crackdown on its own opposition.”

“Iran is silencing all sources of information," said Neta yahu. "Using the power of the Internet and of Twitter against the Iranian regime is a tremendous thing that the United States can do."

The prime minister added that the "deep hatred among part of the Iranian nation against the regime" could serve as a "very important asset to Israel." “

[MMIIXX]

04:01 PM on 12/30/2009

Of course Israel benefits ,thats what this is all about .It not about nukes it about fighting for Israel so Israel doesn't have to

[Sabum]

04:32 PM on 12/30/2009

Israel is but a fraction to the true motivations of another uprising. somewhere in time the corrupt in the Iranian leadership lost view of the greatest Persian in history, Cyrus. The fact of his legacy is tolerance, which the ruling class of Iran has lost all concept of. The evidence is seen every time the images of the protests hit the wire.

Our hearts are with the protesters. We feel your pain, our tears are but a inch of our true rage and sadness.

[joabear]

02:17 PM on 12/30/2009

What everyone tends to forget is that we are dealing with people who are willing to kill anyone and everyone because of their relgious convictions. The Basiji's are Iranian's *Al-Q&&da

A cleric on state TV asking the public to Kill the protesters in the name of Islam and they will be rewarded by God in hereafter:

Mohiyeddin Haeri Shirazi
Kill protesters and things will calm down, he says

http://www.iranian.com/main/2009/dec/mohiyeddin-haeri-shirazi