President Ahmadinejad nearly dies on Barack Obama"s birthday

Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was the target of a grenade attack on Monday, in Western Iran, according to the local press. The bomb exploded just 100 meters away from the car in which the leader of Tehran was traveling. Several people were hurt in the explosion. The convoy of the Iranian president was traveling towards the city of Hamadan, from the airport, to a sports stadium, where Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was supposed to give a speech. Following the attack, the Iranian leader escaped unhurt and gave his speech, without mentioning the incident. The authorities of Tehran did not officially confirm the attempt, but news from other Iranian official sources, confirm that the incident occurred. Furthermore, it seems that so far one person was arrested, and the Iranian authorities are running an investigation, Iranian media announced.

A few days before, the Iranian president accused Israel of paying mercenaries to kill him. The incident in which the leader of Tehran nearly lost his life occurred precisely on the day when the president of the USA, Barack Obama was celebrating his birthday. Yesterday, the leader of the White House turned 49 years old.

Yesterday"s attempt follows a kamikaze attack which happened in July, in the South-East of the Iranian city of Zahedan. At the time, over 20 people - including members of the Revolutionary Iranian Guards - were killed and 100 were injured.

Specialists, consulted by BURSA, consider that the assault on the president could be an attempt from the enemies of the Ahmadinejad regime to cause panic among the population, as well as increase the president"s insecurity in his own country, especially in the case of a military invasion by American Forces. Specialists also consider that the state of fear induced among the population, could have two completely different outcomes: either the population would revolt against the regime of Ahmadinejad, which would facilitate a military invasion of Iran, or it could lead to further fan the population"s hate against the US and Israel. There are also voices talking about a set-up, as Ahmadinejad"s popularity among voters had been dropping lately. Also, according to specialists, security measures in Iran will tighten following the attempt.

Yesterday"s event comes as relations between Iran and USA and Israel are extremely tense, with both parties threatening each other with bellicose statements. The Middle East is a "powder keg" as it is. Also yesterday, three Israelis and a Lebanese were killed following a shooting on the border. Tel-Aviv demanded that the US and France stop providing military assistance to Lebanon. Shootings also occurred on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, where a Palestinian was killed and three Israeli soldiers were injured.