Iran announced on Wednesday that the anti-Iran terrorist group, the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), was responsible for the Sunday attack on the slain nephew of the defeated presidential candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
"We have no doubt that Monafeqin (the Hypocrites, as MKO is referred to in Iran) has been involved in this issue," Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi told reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting here in Tehran today.
The MKO has been blacklisted as a terrorist organization by many international organizations and countries including the United States.
The terrorist group targeted Iranian government officials and civilians in Iran and abroad in the early 1980s. The group also attempted an unsuccessful invasion of Iran in the last days of the Iraq-Iran war in 1988.
Moslehi reiterated that investigations into the case are still underway, and assured that the country’s authorities will pursue the case to the end.
Meantime, the intelligence minister dismissed the reports that Seyed Ali Mousavi, the son of Mir-Hossein’s sister, was killed during the Sunday frenzy in Tehran.
"The incident has happened in the form of a terror attack and in a place other than the area of the unrests," he added.
A group of opposition supporters on Sunday took advantage of the highly revered religious day of Ashoura – the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hossein (AS), the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Shiite Muslims’ third Imam – to chant slogans against top Iranian government officials.
Meantime, tens of millions of Iranians were on the streets on Sunday to take part in annual massive processions across the country to mark the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hossein (AS).
Clashes began after demonstrators started clapping and showing happiness, insulting the mourning people who were also in the streets to commemorate Imam Hossein’s martyrdom anniversary.
Tehran’s police headquarters announced that eight people were killed in clashes, but meantime underlined that the police forces neither used violence nor fired a single bullet on Sunday.