Caretaker of Rafsanjan County Administration Removed After Threatening Journalist with Physical Assault
Reports from Iran indicate that the caretaker of Rafsanjan County Administration has been dismissed following a phone order from the Interior Minister, after threatening a journalist with physical violence.
The FARS News Agency reported that following an open threat made by Ali Akbar Pourmohammadi, caretaker of Rafsanjan County Administration, against a journalist, Ahmad Vahidi, the Interior Minister, issued an order for his dismissal in a phone call with the Governor of Kerman Province.
This action came after Pourmohammadi threatened a journalist with physical assault and “punching in the mouth” during a press conference in Kerman Province, in response to a question the journalist had asked him.
Based on a video from this press conference that was widely circulated on social media, when a journalist asked the caretaker of Rafsanjan County Administration whether it was true that he had agreed to transfer water for a famous person because this person had beheaded a camel for him at the beginning of his administration, Ali Akbar Pourmohammadi’s response at this public conference to the journalist was: “If you repeat it one more time, I’ll punch you in the mouth, watch out.”
The circulation of this video on social media triggered numerous reactions, particularly strong responses from journalists active in local media outlets.
This is not the first time journalists in Iran have been openly insulted and threatened by officials in charge for their professional work and questioning.
Previously, Kianush Jahanpour, the public relations official of the Ministry of Health and spokesman for the Food and Drug Organization during Hassan Rouhani’s administration, had called journalists who had asked about the high price of domestically produced coronavirus vaccines “traitors.”
Source: Radio Farda
