Iranian Provincial Governor Slapped In The Face At Inauguration

The new governor of a northwestern Iranian province found himself slapped in the face by an angry man during his inauguration on Saturday, an unusual breach of security in the Islamic Republic during a ceremony attended by the country’s interior minister.

A motive for the attack in Iran’s Eastern Azerbaijan province remained unclear, though it targeted a new provincial governor who once served in the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and reportedly had been kidnapped at one point by rebel forces in Syria. One report referred to it as a personal dispute.

The new governor, Brig. Gen. Abedin Khorram, had taken the podium in the provincial capital of Tabriz when the man strode out from offstage and immediately swung at the official. Video aired by state television recorded the gathered crowd gasping in shock, the sound of the slap echoing on the sound system. It took several seconds before plainclothes security forces reached him.

They dragged the man off through a side door, knocking down a curtain. Others rushed up, knocking into each other.

Later footage showed Khorram return to the stage and speak to the unsettled crowd, now all standing up.

Read more at Times of Israel.

{Matzav.com}