Iranian Gov’t: It Was Only a Firecracker

Posted on Aug 4, 2010

AP / ISNA, Saman Aghvami

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, is flanked by bodyguards as he arrives to address a public gathering in Hamadan, Iran, on Wednesday.

Something went off with a bang near Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s motorcade as it passed through the city of Hamadan on Wednesday, but the exact nature of the popping object was disputed in reports throughout the day.  —KA

Los Angeles Times:

International news agencies had reported that the convoy was traveling from the airport in the western city of Hamadan to a sports stadium when a bomb exploded, injuring several people. Ahmadinejad was not hurt. Reuters, quoting a source in the president’s office, said one person had been arrested.

The story spread from blogs to websites to international satellite TV channels. The conservative Iranian news agency Mehr said “contrary to the negative atmosphere created by some Western media … eyewitnesses have stressed that a homemade [noise] bomb exploded far away” from the president’s car. The agency added that smoke spread over the area and a number of people had been arrested.

Not wanting to spark instability and upset financial markets, the Iranian government, as if reciting a mantra, repeated: firecracker.

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