Tehran: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
was unhurt on Wednesday after an explosive device, officially
described as a firecracker, went off near his motorcade.
Ahmadinejad was on his way to a sports arena to make a
speech in Hamedan, south of the capital, when the explosion
occurred.
Conservative website Khabaronline, the first source to
report the incident, initially said a hand grenade was thrown
at the hardliner`s motorcade but later in the day dropped
"grenade" in its report and used the word "firecracker"
instead.
"This morning a hand grenade exploded next to a vehicle
carrying reporters accompanying the president," the website,
close to parliament speaker Ali Larijani, said first.
"Ahmadinejad`s car was 100 metres (yards) away and he was
not hurt," it said, adding that the alleged attacker was
detained.
Iran`s Mehr news agency quoted witnesses as saying a
"hand-made noise bomb exploded a far distance from the
president`s car."
"Nobody was hurt and several people have been arrested,"
it said.
Ahmadinejad later delivered his speech and made no
reference to the incident.
An official in the president`s media office told AFP the
explosion was from a "firecracker."
The ISNA and ILNA news agencies also said the blast was
caused by a "firecracker," while Fars news agency said a
"hand-made grenade" had been thrown at the motorcade.
"After the president`s motorcade passed someone threw a
hand-made grenade at the vehicles behind it," Fars said.
PTI
