Officials close to Iranian President Mohammad Khatami have denied there was an assassination attempt on the reformist cleric as he was returning from a ceremony to honor the founder of Islamic Iran, press reports said Tuesday.
"The rumors of an assassination bid against the president are untrue. Informed sources close to the presidency that I contacted have denied the report," said Ali Shakuri-Rad, head of parliament's directory board, cited in the Toseeh paper.
The paper said officials at the interior ministry and in the president's office had also denied there was any attack, which the paper said planned for Monday after Khatami left the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Tens of thousands of mourners gathered Monday in Khomeini's mausoleum, for an emotionally charged day that was overshadowed by the run-up to Friday's presidential elections that Khatami is expected to easily win – TEHRAN (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
