A senior official of Iran’s intelligence ministry has said that the murdered wife of former Tehran mayor “had no connection or cooperation” with the ministry.
The former mayor Mohammad Ali Najafi gave himself up on May 28, hours after his second wife’s body was found at home. She was killed with bullets from a handgun. Najafi confessed to shooting his wife.
Immediately after the sensational news swept the media in Iran, reports began circulating that the victim, Mitra Ostad had connections with Iran’s intelligence.
The former mayor is a well-known reformist politician and the scandal could benefit Iran’s conservatives, who were suspected last year of engineering the resignation of Mr. Najafi from his post.
The semi-official ISNA quoted the intelligence official as threatening that “Dissemination of such false claims” disturbs public opinion and can lead to prosecution.
One day after the murder, Najafi told Tehran’s criminal court that an unidentified government organ was “eavesdropping” on his calls and passing on information his wife. He added that he lodged a complaint about this but “this was not the reason for the killing”.
Najafi’s daughter from his first wife has also said that her father’s second wife “had connections with special organs and this is how she had established control over him and was pressuring him.”
Najafi’s lawyer announced May 29 that his client faces charges of pre-meditated murder.
