Iran President’s bodyguards beat up reporters

Iran Focus:

Tehran, Iran, Oct. 21 – Bodyguards of Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad beat up several reporters during an international Quran exhibition on Thursday.

Reporters from the state-run news agencies, Fars News, Mehr News, and ILNA, as well as Iran’s state television were beaten up by Ahmadinejad’s bodyguards as they attempted to interview the hard-line President during the ceremony, a report by Fars news agency said.

The report added that the journalists were also sworn at and threatened by Ahmadinejad’s bodyguards.

Separately, the international media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, ranked Iran at 164 out of 167 nations in its 2005 annual press freedoms index.