Government sponsored forces attack Karroubi in Qom

The Saham News website reported today that during a visit by Mahdi Karroubi to the house of Grand Ayatollah Sanei in Qom, organised pro-government forces in the city quickly gathered outside the house of the prominent Shiite cleric.

Ayatollah Sanei has been a firm supporter of Mir Hossein Mousavi and the opposition Green Movement in the past year. Mr Karroubi had decided to pay a visit to the cleric after taking part in a memorial service in the holy city of Qom.

Saham News has reported that “According to informed sources, the house of Ayatollah Sanei is still under siege by forces linked with the government.”

Speaking to the BBC’s Persian service just hours ago, Karroubi’s son Hossein said that his father had told Hassan Khomeini (grandson of Imam Khomeini) and Grand Ayatollah Sanei via phone that he would be visiting them in Qom. Yet upon his arrival in the city, state thugs attacked his father’s vehicle with “chains, batons and cubs”. Hossein Karroubi said that the group’s organisation and swift move showed that they were not acting on their own and independently. 

According to the Jaras opposition website, the following attack against the Ayatollah Montazeri's house in Qom. A similar attack took place at 9:45pm local time against the house of Grand Ayatollah Sanei.