'Revolutionary Guards named in Khamenei murder plot'
Detained officials had invited Iran's supreme leader to visit weapons depot same day as explosion, Al Arabiya reports.
By JPOST.COM STAFFAli Khamenei 260(photo credit: REUTERS)Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hoseyni Khamenei has ordered the arrest of a number of senior members of the Revolutionary Guards he suspects of planning to assassinate him, pan-Arab news Channel Al Arabiya reported Tuesday.Khamenei demanded an investigation of the detainees, "and others," about the alleged assassination plot, an "informed source in Iran" told the Emirati news station.RELATED:Lethal blast at Iran refinery as Ahmadinejad visitsCyprus says it attempted to offload Iran blast cargoAccording 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 Novemeber 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.
