Young Iranian hardliners armed with knives and axes attacked a public political meeting where two pro-reform MPs were speaking, the governmental Iran daily said Saturday.
The half-hour attack Thursday night in the south coast city of Bushehr's cultural center left a number of people wounded and police had to intervene to evacuate the deputies to safety, it said.
The attackers, who also beat participants with brass knuckles, launched the assault after a member of the audience protested at Bushehr MP Rajabali Mazroui's response to a question on Iran's political situation, it said.
Public appearances of pro-reform political and cultural figures have been increasingly disrupted by protests and violence.
Last week a dissident nationalist, Ezzatollah Sahabi, was blocked by hardliners from taking part in a political gathering in the southwest of the country.
In August, a mob stormed the airport in the provincial capital of Khoramabad to block two prominent critics of the clerical regime from addressing the annual conference of a leading pro-reform student group.
The incident set off days of rioting and clashes that left one policeman dead and dozens of police officers and students wounded -- TEHRAN (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
