TEHRAN: The funeral Thursday for an Iranian physics professor killed in a mysterious bomb attack turned into competing demonstrations by pro- and anti-government supporters with hundreds of security forces standing by.
Witnesses said half of about 1,000 people at the funeral for Masoud Ali Mohammadi were opposition supporters and there were some minor scuffles with police during the burial. Some carried green banners, the color symbolizing their movement, and shouted support for the opposition. The other side chanted “Down with the US” and “Death to Israel” as mourners carried the body shrouded in an Iranian flag on their shoulders.
Some cameramen and photographers covering the funeral were taken to a police station, where their IDs were checked. They were later released.
The 50-year-old Tehran University professor was killed when a bomb-rigged motorcycle exploded Tuesday morning outside his home as he was leaving for work. It remains unclear why the researcher with no prominent political voice, no published work with military relevance and no declared links to Iran’s nuclear program was targeted for assassination. Authorities blamed an armed Iranian opposition group acting on behalf of Israel and the US. The
US government denied any involvement and Israel did not comment. Two former Iranian presidents who are now both leading opposition figures — Mohammad Khatami and Hashemi Rafsanjani — condemned the killing on Wednesday as an act of terrorism that could deepen unrest and violence.
But both hard-line government supporters and the opposition are calling him a “martyr” of terrorism, adding to the murkiness surrounding the killing.
Iran’s nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, offered his condolences, state TV reported. Salehi said the professor was a “shining figure” in Iran’s prominent Sharif University in the past, when Salehi was a chancellor there.
President Mahmoud said on Thursday, the assassination was carried out in a “Zionist style”, in his first direct comment on the bombing attack in Tehran.
“The depth of the enemies’ grudge can be seen in the university professor’s assassination,” Ahmadinejad said, ISNA news agency reported.
“The manner of bomb planting shows a Zionist style and they want to make sure that Iran would not advance,” he said.
“They don’t want to see thinkers and scientists in Iran and do not want to see its development,” Ahmadinejad said, referring to Iran’s foes, IRNA news agency reported. “The enemies cannot take away the concept of genius from Iran by killing geniuses.”
