Page 11 - IRANRptNov21

2.5 Man slaps new governor of Iranian province in face as he takes podium during inauguration
The new governor of northwest Iran’s East Azerbaijan province was slapped in the face by an angry man during his inauguration on October 23. It was an unusual breach of security in a political setting in the Islamic Republic.
A motive for the attack on Brig Gen Abedin Khorram as he took the podium in provincial capital Tabriz remained unclear. However, Khorram once served in the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He was reportedly once kidnapped by rebel forces in Syria. One local report referred to the incident as resulting from a personal dispute.
The attacker appeared from offstage and immediately swung at Khorram. Video aired by state television recorded the gathered crowd gasping in shock and the sound of the slap echoing on the sound system. Plainclothes security forces rushed on to the stage, grabbed the attacker and dragged him back offstage.
Later footage showed Khorram returning to the stage to speak to the unsettled crowd.
“I do not know him of course but you should know that, although I did not want to say it, when I was in Syria I would get whipped by the enemy 10 times a day and would be beaten up,” he said. “More than 10 times, they would hold a loaded gun to my head. I consider him on a par with those enemies but forgive him.”
State news agency IRNA later reported that the attacker was a member of the IRGC’s Ashoura Corps, which Khorram had overseen. IRNA also described the attack as due to “personal reasons”, without providing any more detail.
The semi-official Fars news agency later reported that the attacker was upset that his wife received a coronavirus vaccination from a male nurse, as opposed to a female nurse.
Khorram was among 48 Iranians held hostage in 2013 in Syria ad later released for 2,130 rebels, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based thinktank, said.
11 IRAN Country Report November 2021 www.intellinews.com