AP:  Crowds attack home of Iranian opposition leader

TEHRAN, Iran — Pro-government militiamen attacked the home of an Iranian opposition leader with homemade bombs and beat one of his bodyguards unconscious, an opposition website reported, in an apparent attempt to keep him from attending a key rally on Friday.

Mahdi Karroubi’s guards had to fire gunshots in the air to clear crowds that broke down the door of his home on Thursday night after days of gatherings outside, said the Sahamnews website, which supports Iran’s pro-reform movement.

The report said the attackers were members of the plainclothes Basij militia, which led the crackdown on protests that swept the country in response to allegations of fraud in President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s June 2009 re-election. Karroubi was one of the pro-reform candidates who ran against Ahmadinejad.

Crowds again encircled Karroubi’s residence on Friday, as Iranians filled Tehran’s streets for the annual state-sponsored rally known as Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day.

The government uses the occasion as an anti-Israel outpouring and to show its support for the Palestinians. But last year, Karroubi and other opposition leaders used the day to gather tens of thousands of their own supporters into the streets, and violent clashes broke out with security forces.

Crowds of hard-line protesters have gathered at the gate of his home for several days, apparently because they believed he would try to attend the rally again this year, though none of the opposition leaders has called for demonstrations.

Karroubi’s son, Hossein, told The Associated Press Friday that dozens of hard-liners were continuing to damage the opposition leader’s home and that police were not responding to the scene.

RFE:  Hard-Liner Attacks, Cordon Keep Iran Opposition Leader From Rally

The son of opposition leader Mehdi Karrubi says hard-liners tried to forcefully enter his father’s Tehran home late on September 2 but were turned back after an altercation with the cleric-cum-politician’s bodyguards.

The incident came after several days of similar after-hours harassment and on the eve of officially sanctioned public rallies today in which Karrubi had vowed to participate.

A website with ties to Karrubi reported that “militia members” and members of the country’s hard-line Revolutionary Guard then surrounded Karrubi’s home today to ensure that he couldn’t get to the government-sponsored rally.

Hossein Karrubi — who was at his father’s house at the time of the September 2 attack — told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that the attackers fired shots at the house and smashed the windows and surrounding street lamps.

“They launched their attack with the slogan, ‘We’re ready to obey your orders, Khamenei!’” the younger Karrubi said in the immediate wake of the incident. “They set the door to the house on fire — it is still burning. They wanted to enter the house but the guards opened fire to scare them. I think several of them were injured. They were forced to retreat.”

Karrubi’s website, “Sahamnews,” reports that the head of his security team was beaten up and seriously injured when he tried to speak to the attackers. According to the website, the guard, identified as “Mr. Yari,” has been taken to the hospital.

The attack was believed to be an attempt to intimidate Karrube and prevent him from taking part in the September 3 Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally, which generally sees anti-Israeli rallies in Iran. Last month Karrubi said he planned to attend the annual rally, which was used last year by opposition members to protest what they said was the fraudulent reelection of Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad in June 2009.

WSJ:  Iran’s Karroubi Attacked, Son Says

Mr. Karroubi issued a statement asking supporters not to come to his house, but by late Thursday night, several hundred demonstrators from the opposition Green Movement had begun to gather in Mr. Karroubi’s neighborhood, according to eyewitnesses.

“I am very angry. We will back Karroubi one hundred percent until Iran is free,” said Mostafa. The young man, who didn’t give his last name, was on his way to Mr. Karroubi’s house with several friends.

Security forces and antiriot police were dispatched throughout the capital. They set up checkpoints and dispersed the crowds. In many neighborhoods, people chanted “God is great” from rooftops, witnesses said.

“This was a clear assassination attempt and we don’t know if we will be alive or dead by tomorrow,” the younger Mr. Karroubi said. He said his father plans to continue pushing for democracy. Electricity and water service to his father’s apartment building had been cut, he said.

The attack was carried out by Basij militia under the command of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to Mr. Karroubi’s family.

The militia had surrounded Mr. Karroubi’s residence for five nights. Videos posted on opposition websites show the militia breaking windows and splashing paint on his house, while chanting their loyalty to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and saying they are under his command. Those incidents had prompted Mr. Karroubi’s wife, Fatemeh, to write an open letter to Mr. Khamenei blaming him for the violence against her family.