IRAN: GUNMAN FIRES INTO AIR DURING SPEECH BY PRESIDENT COMMEMORATING FOUNDATION OF ISLAMIC STATE

Record ID: 649436

  • Title: IRAN: GUNMAN FIRES INTO AIR DURING SPEECH BY PRESIDENT COMMEMORATING FOUNDATION OF ISLAMIC STATE
  • Date: 1st February 1994
  • Summary: TEHRAN, IRAN (FEBRUARY 1, 1994) (REUTERS) GVS PEOPLE CHEERING AND APPLAUDING INSIDE MOSQUE SURROUNDING THE SHRINE OF LATE AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI (2 SHOTS) 0.12 SV IRANIAN PRESIDENT HASHEMI RAFSANJANI ON BALCONY ABOUT TO ADDRESS CROWD 0.21 SV FOREIGN MILITARY OFFICIALS AT CEREMONY 0.24 CU PULL BACK AND REVERSE CU RAFSANJANI ADDRESSING CROWD/ AHMED KHOMEINI (THE LATE AYATOLLAH'S SON) STANDING TO HIS RIGHT (2 SHOTS) 0.41 SV WOMEN LISTENING 0.43 GV RAFSANJANI ON BALCONY MAKING ADDRESS/ SOUNDS OF GUNFIRE/ SECURITY MEN APPEAR ON BALCONY AND TRY TO SHIELD RAFSANJANI 1.07 GV AGITATED CROWD/ SECURITY TRYING TO CONTROL CROWD 1.18 SV ZOOM IN RAFSANJANI ADDRESSING CROWD/ SECURITY MEN ON BALCONY 1.30 Initials
  • Embargoed: 16th February 1994 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TEHERAN, IRAN
  • Country: Iran, Islamic Republic of
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5AOMNA7VFOCKP4GWXS4J6RBGW
  • Story Text: An unidentified gunman fired in the air during a speech in Tehran by Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Tuesday (February 1).
    The official news agency IRNA said the shots were fired by a man who was later seized by the crowd outside the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini at a ceremony marking the 1979 return from exile of the father of the Islamic state and the start of the Iranian revolution.
    Rafsanjani, 59, appeared unruffled by the shots and, after a short break, called for calm and resumed his speech.
    "Hashemi, Hashemi, you are the apple of our eyes," chanted the crowd, using the name by which the president is best known in Iran.
    Witnesses said four or five explosions were heard that could have come from a small-calibre pistol. They said the origin of the explosions was about 50 metres (yards) from the platform where Rafsanjani stood. IRNA quoted police Major Reza Mohammad-Doust as saying the man who fired them was being interrogated and a body search found a number of forged student, police and press cards on him.
    Rafsanjani, who was shot in the stomach in 1981 by members of the anti-Khomeini Mujahideen Khalq group, said when he resumed his speech on Tuesday: "Our enemies have lost hope in conspiring against us. Their newest trick is to use the morale of the people as a weapon.
    "They are now trying to make people lose heart in the revolution. So we must all be alert," he added.
    The crowd's immediate reaction to the incident was to denounce the Iraq-based Mujahideen -- invariably blamed in Iran for any political violence.
    "Death to the Monafeq," they chanted before Rafsanjani resumed his speech. They were referring to the Mujahideen who are called Monafeqeen (hypocrites) in Iran in a play of words on their names.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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