Report: Iranian state agents sabotaged Ahmadinejad’s car to assassinate ex-president

Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s car was sabotaged by “special security agents” in order to assassinate him, Iran International reports.

Earlier this month, Ahmadinejad’s security team sent the former president’s Toyota Land Cruiser for repairs due to a broken air conditioner, the dissident outlet says.

But after being handed over to the “presidential institution” where repairs usually take place, the agents took the vehicle to an unknown location before bringing it back with the “false claim” the problem had been fixed, according to unnamed sources cited by the outlet.

The former president’s security chief had told Ahmadinejad to take a different car to a religious mourning ceremony on July 15 after finding the air conditioner had not been repaired, the report says.

According to the report, Ahmadinejad’s driver lost control of the Toyota Land Cruiser’s steering and brakes on the way to the event, crashing into a highway barrier and another vehicle in the convoy, and finally stopped after hitting a Peugeot.

Only the former president’s associates and bodyguards were on board, the report says.

A passenger in the Peugeot was lightly injured and discharged from hospital after treatment.

The report says only high-ranking members of certain subdivisions of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have the authority to seize such a vehicle. However, the sources did not specify to what state body the agents belonged.