Abbas Akhoundi, former roads minister, targeted in failed assassination attempt after critical speech

Abbas Akhoundi, former minister of roads and urban development of the Islamic Republic, was the target of a failed assassination attempt after a speech in which he had criticised the government's policies. The Iran Reform Front announced that an armed man who, according to the group, intended to assassinate Akhoundi was arrested after the event ended.

According to the Reform Front, the detained man claimed ties to another group, said that others would carry on his work if he were arrested, and also named several other figures as possible targets. No official body has so far announced or confirmed the man's identity, his motive or his claimed link to another group, and the Islamic Republic's judiciary has given no explanation about the case.

Who is Abbas Akhoundi

Akhoundi was minister of roads and urban development in Hassan Rouhani's government from 2013 to 2018 and resigned from the post in October 2018. In recent years he has been among the critics of the Islamic Republic's foreign and economic policy from inside the establishment, and the Reform Front had included his name on its list of proposed candidates in the 2024 presidential election.

An atmosphere of threats and violence inside the establishment

The attempt on Akhoundi comes as the Islamic Republic, after the war and under the US naval blockade, has extended the reach of repression even to critics inside the establishment. In recent weeks a "countering infiltration" bill in parliament would require citizens to notify the authorities before leaving the country, and the Tehran prosecutor's office has opened a case against a satirist for imitating Ali Khamenei's voice.

This is not the first time a critical figure has faced a physical threat after a speech or public remark. A government that itself organised the assassination of its opponents, inside and outside the country, for years now faces violence rising from within its own factions; violence for which no clear accountability has been announced to this day.

The armed man who intended to assassinate Abbas Akhoundi has been arrested, but the government is still silent on his identity and motive.