Shooting Said to Be Tied to ’98 Killings

The March 12 shooting of leading Iranian reformer Saeed Hajjarian was related to the 1998 deaths of five political dissidents at the hands of Intelligence Ministry agents, vice president for environmental protection Masoumeh Ebtekar said. The remarks echo the concern of many Iranians that forces are at work in Tehran to thwart President Mohammad Khatami’s push for social and political reforms. Hard-liners who say the reforms betray the ideals of the 1979 Islamic Revolution are believed to use violence against opponents. Ebtekar said the shooting was linked to a July attack at a university and the killings of the dissidents.