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Wed, aug 04, 2010 | Debkafile | Jerusalem Post

Bodyguards react after the sound of an explosion behind the entourage of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as he is welcomed to Hamadan, southwest of Tehran, August 4, 2010. (REUTERS/STR)

Ahmadinejad survives hit attempt

Debkafile’s Iranian sources report a large bomb exploded against the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s heavily secured armored convoy as it drove through the northern Iranian city of Hamadan Wednesday, Aug. 4. He was reported unhurt. Some of his bodyguards and bystanders were killed or injured.

Iranian media reported the explosion hit a minivan carrying correspondents “several of whom were injured in the incident” [al-Arabiya TV-station reported] and one attacker was arrested. Later, the president’s office said the bang was caused by a “firecracker.” A handmade grenade struck one of the vehicles in a convoy accompanying the Iranian president.

After the attack, Ahmadinejad switched vehicles and was soon standing on a platform in the town center and making a speech televised live.

There were conflicting reports about whether or not Iran’s presidential office confirmed the assassination attempt. Press TV reported that the presidential office denied that an attempt on Ahmadinejad’s life took place, while a Lebanese television station had presidential office sources confirming that the assassination try indeed occurred. The government’s main English-language broadcast arm (Iran’s state-run Press TV), said an informed source in Ahmadinejad’s office vehemently denied the allegation, insisting “no such attack had happened.”

Ahmadinejad, whose popularity at home is waning amid a faltering economy and tightened UN and Western sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program, regularly tours the countryside to deliver speeches to grassroot supporters in cities and town across Iran.

Other media reported an explosion in the area but gave conflicting accounts about the cause.

Conservative Iranian website khabaronline.ir reported that one person was arrested in connection with the attack.

Ahmadinejad also said Monday during a speech that Israel had sent agents to assassinate him, but he gave no details.

The Iranian president’s car was about 100 meters away from the site of the blast, according to the report.

Hamadan’s population is purely Iranian Shiite with none of the ethnic or religious minorities persecuted by the regime. It is located on the site of the Biblical Shushan, several hundreds kilometers west of Tehran.