Reformist website Jaras reports Basij forces attacked frequenters of
Ghoba
Mosque in Shiraz and injured them with rocks and stones. Shiraz's Ghoba Mosque
has been witness to numerous altercations between pro-government forces and
supporters of Ayatollah Dastgheib in the past months.
Ayatollah Dastgheib is a reformist cleric who is also the representative of
Shiraz in Iran's Assembly of Experts. He has also publicly criticized the tenth
presidential election and the crackdown on its protesters.
Ayatollah Dastgheib during a recent sermon
In December, his residence and offices were raided by pro-government forces and
the clerics there were attacked and injured. Ayatollah Dastgheib has not made an
appearance at the Ghoba Mosque since the rise of these violent attacks.
Last night, after a speech by one of the seminarians of Ayatollah Dastgheib,
about 30 people started giving adverse slogans and once they were forced out of
the mosque by the worshipers, they started throwing rocks at the people in the
mosque. The incident continued until 10 p. m. when police finally intervened to
disperse the crowd.
Video showing the people injured by the Basij forces
In the past months, prominent clerics who have spoken out against government
violence against election protesters have been the target of attacks by
pro-government elements in plain clothes.
After the death of the prominent dissident cleric Ayatollah Montazeri in
December, his offices along with those of Ayatollahs Sanei and Dastgheib were
fiercely attacked by pro-government forces.
