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Son of Iranian Supreme Religious Leader Ali Khamenei Mojtaba Khamenei arrested for planning to assassinate his father

14 December 2011 13:49 (UTC +04:00)

Khamenei demanded an investigation of the detainees, "and others," about the alleged assassination plot, an "informed source in Iran" told the Emirati news station. According to the source, "some of those" detained had invited Khamenei to come and visit the same weapons depot near Tehran where a large blast killed 17 people, among them the head of Iran’s ballistic-missiles program.

Khamenei was invited to visit on November 12, the same day as the blast, according to the Al Arabiya report.

Mojtaba Khamenei, Khamenei’s son and an ardent supporter of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was one of the officials that was arrested, according to the report.

The explosion at Bidganeh, near the city of Karaj, was the first of three mysterious blasts to occur in Iran in the last few months.

Khamenei survived an attempt to assassinate him in 1981 which paralyzed his right arm.