The IRGC officer who slapped a general last week in Iran is under pressure in military detention to confess that his action was based on personal reasons.
The Human Rights Activists’ News Agency (HRANA) a monitoring group based abroad quoted “an informed source” on Friday that a court set his bail at 3 billion rials ($11,000) but outside pressures have kept the assailant behind bars.
The Revolutionary Guard colonel identified unofficially as Ayyub Alizadeh, walked on the stage on October 23 during the inauguration of a new governor, General Abedin Khorram, and slapped him hard in the face. The reason for his daring act has never been officially disclosed, but some have said he was angry that Khorram had denied him a promotion.
Official media reported that he was angry for a personal reason unrelated to Khorram. According to HRANA, interrogators are now pressuring him to make a confession along those lines.
The unidentified source told the human rights monitoring group that Alizadeh is under pressure and might have even been beaten to make a false confession.
Despite censorship, Iranian media did report the incident, which was an embarrassment for the Revolutionary Guard.