2,000 Iranians Mourn Slain Poet in Tehran
About 2,000 mourners--Iranian writers and their secular supporters--gathered Tuesday to bury slain poet Mohammed Mokhtari, amid word of several arrests in a string of mystery killings that has rattled the Islamic Republic.
Writer Mahmoud Dolatabadi appealed for calm, warning the crowd against turning the funeral into a political rally that could be “misinterpreted” in the tense atmosphere.
Reflecting the general level of fear in society, moderate newspapers speculated on the next targets, including some of the country’s top Islamic dissident intellectuals and opposition journalists. Hard-line dailies warned of Zionist and CIA plots.
Late Monday, a judiciary spokesman said police had made several arrests in connection with the slayings, but officials provided no further details.
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