Cartoon 107: Ali Motahari Attacked in Shiraz

Conservative Member of the Iranian Parliament Ali Motahari was attacked during a March 9, 2015 visit to Shiraz to deliver a speech. Plainclothes individual attacked the taxi cab he was aboard with sticks and stones, broke the windows, and sprayed his eyes with pepper spray, while chanting slogans against him. The cab driver managed to drive both of them away from the scene, taking Mr. Motahari to a police station, but the assailants remained outside the police station for hours. Upon request of Fars Province Governor, Mr. Motahari’s speech at Shiraz University was cancelled and he returned to Tehran. It was reported later that Mr. Motahari suffered eye and respiratory problems as a result of the pepper spray.

Ali Motahari, a conservative politician, has shocked and angered fellow conservatives over the past few years by taking a stand against the state of house arrest imposed on Green Movement leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard.

Three days after the attack on Ali Motahari, in a letter addressed to Ministers of Intelligence and Interior, the President ordered investigation into the incident. Speaker of the Parliament, S

سه روز پس از حمله به علی مطهری، رییس جمهور در نامه ای خطاب به وزرای کشور و اطلاعات دستور پیگیری سو قصد به این نماینده مجلس را صادر کرد. صادق لاریجانی، رییس مجلس شورای اسلامی نیز روز ۲۴ اسفندماه اعلام کرد که مجلس و همچنین رییس قوه قضاییه دستور پیگیری این موضوع را صادر کرده اند.

با این حال به خودرو وکیل علی مطهری که روز جمعه ۲۲ اسفند ماه برای پیگیری شکایت موکلش به شیراز رفته نیز حمله شده و روی ماشین با اسپری مشکی نوشته شده است:‌«اخطار اول».