Torn Photos

Iranian authorities have reportedly arrested several people in connection with the destruction of photographs of the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “Iranian state radio is reporting that authorities have arrested several people accused of involvement in destroying photos of the country’s supreme leader and the revered founder of the Islamic Republic. In student demonstrations last week, supporters of Iran’s pro-reform opposition movement burned and trampled on pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They oppose him for backing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed June re-election. But the opposition denies tearing up a photo of the leader of Iran’s 1979 revolution, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who remains a widely respected figure in Iran. They accuse the government of staging video of someone destroying Khomeini’s picture to discredit their protest movement.”