Iranian President Khatami's government is currently working on a plan to protect political gatherings and meetings from extremist attacks, Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mussavi-Lari said Tuesday.
"This plan is currently being studied by the interior ministry's security council", he told a news conference in Tehran, saying authorities were "determined to prevent and fight against attacks on political meetings".
Fundamentalist groups, said to be close to the conservatives, led several attacks against various political gatherings over the past few months.
Recently in the Gulf town of Bushehr, groups attacked the participants of a political meeting at which two reformist members of parliament were due to speak.
According to the Tehran press, the attackers armed with knives, knuckle-dusters and axes wreaked havoc for 30 minutes in the meeting.
In August, days of clashes erupted after a mob stormed Khoramabad airport to block two leading critics of the clerical regime from addressing the meeting of the Office to Consolidate Unity, the largest pro-reform student group -- TEHRAN (AFP)
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