Iran's leadership continues to harass and attempt to intimidate the political opposition in an attempt to silence dissent, most recently with attacks on a key leader just a few days ago. Government forces fire bombed the five-story Tehran home of key Iranian opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi, and beat his bodyguard into unconsciousness ahead of the annual state-sponsored rally for Jerusalem Day (Quds Day). The September 3 attack came late at night, just hours before the series of state-run rallies used each year as the government's excuse to flood the streets with anti-Israel sentiment and show its support for the Palestinian Authority. Karroubi and former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi both ran against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 2009 national elections, which many activists have continued to insist were rigged in order to ensure Ahmadinejad's re-election. Last year, after three stormy months of protests following those polls, Karroubi and other opposition leaders turned out on Quds Day with tens of thousands of supporters in counter-demonstrations, sparking bloody attacks by government forces. The 72-year-old cleric and former parliament speaker has continued to lead public protests against the government over the past year, despite a government crackdown accompanied by violence and the “disappearances” of some of the jailed activists. Others were killed during demonstrations. The government-driven violence succeeded after several months in driving most of the protesters from the streets, although an active opposition movement, headed by two Green Movement leaders, Mousavi and former President Mohammad Khatami, has continued underground. Karroubi, who has also maintained a public profile despite the danger, has engaged in repeated confrontations with government leaders. Pro-government mobs have damaged his car on numerous occasions, but according to a Associated Press reporter, the latest attack has been the most violent to date.
