Report by Press TV

An Iranian lawmaker has reportedly beaten the government's representative in Majlis amid a row over the Interior Minister's impeachment.

Ali Kordan

Mohammad Abbasi, the head of the Government's Office in Majlis, was discussing the issue of an impeachment motion against Interior Minister Ali Kordan when he was attacked by a lawmaker from Tehran, IRNA reported on Wednesday.

"The government representatives in Majlis are tasked with informing the lawmakers about the government's opinions and my discussion with the lawmakers is aimed at performing the same task," Abbasi said.

The official added that he would file a lawsuit against the lawmaker.

Kordan has been under fire over a controversy about his doctorate degree from 'Oxford University' which turned out to be fake. The Interior Minister had earlier said that he was not aware that his degree had been a forgery.

While lawmakers call for the resignation of Kordan, he announced on Wednesday that he would never step down. A group of Iranian MPs however tabled an impeachment motion against the Interior Minister.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Fars News Agency, MP Avaz Heidarpour denied the report that the government representative had been assaulted in the Parliament and in turn accused Abbasi of paying 5 million rials (nearly US$5,000) in bribes to lawmakers in a bid to encourage them to withdraw their support from the impeachment motion.

However, both the government representative and MP Behrouz Jaafari dismissed the accusations and said that the payment was part of the government's aid to the mosque construction projects in the parliamentarians' constituencies.

... Payvand News - 10/30/08 ... --