TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's moderate president on Saturday ordered an investigation into an assault of the brother of the country's supreme leader by hard-liners.
The official Islamic Republic News Agency said President Mohammad Khatami told authorities in the Intelligence Ministry and the ministry in charge of domestic security to "seriously confront" those responsible for attacking Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's younger brother, Hadi, in a mosque in the holy city of Qom on Thursday. The city is about 80 miles southwest of the capital, Tehran.Shouting "Death to Khatami!" about 100 people used sticks and iron bars to beat Hadi Khamenei as he prepared to address a gathering in Mohammadiyeh Mosque, witnesses said.
Khamenei, a press adviser to Khatami, was taken to hospital with "serious injuries," several Tehran newspapers reported Saturday. Earlier reports that he had suffered a fractured skull have not been confirmed.
Hadi Khamenei owns the liberal-leftist newspaper World of Islam, and his political views are moderate, in contrast to those of his elder brother, who is a leading hard-liner in the Iranian hierarchy.
The hard-line faction is engaged in a fierce power struggle with the moderates, who are led by Khatami.
Presidential aide Ali-Akbar Mohateshemi was quoted in the World of Islam newspaper as saying the culprits of the latest attack were linked to a group behind the killings of five dissident writers and intellectuals late last year.
Following the arrests of several intelligence agents in those killings, the intelligence minister resigned Tuesday.
"Our free-minded people should not sit idle and allow such actions by the Intelligence Ministry to continue," Mohateshemi said. "No doubt, those who attacked Hojatoleslam Hadi Khamenei . . . were the same group and are linked to them."
Vigilantes were trying to replace the climate of "freedom and independence" with violence and dictatorship, he said.
"Like vampire bats, they sit in every corner to attack and insult the revolution's children," Mohateshemi added.
An editorial in World of Islam described Khamenei's assailants as "false supporters of Islam who have tainted the image of the revolution and Islam with their ugly and illegal actions."