Iranian officials say they have prevented an assassination attempt on the nation's president and other senior officials. Richard Engel reports from our Middle East bureau that Iranian police blame religious fanatics for the plot. Iran's official news agency reports Iranian police arrested 34-members of a religious cult that allegedly planned to assassinate Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and other officials. Twenty of those arrested were later released.
Iranian police say the cleric was attempting to establish a clandestine militant group.
Police in Tehran say the group has in the past stolen weapons and ammunition to finance and carry out armed operations against the Iranian government. An official Iranian statement said police succeeded in foiling attempts by the group to establish weapons depots and bomb-making factories and to plan the assassinations of influential people. Iranian officials say the group also had hoped to kill Sunni Muslim preachers in an attempt to stir religious discord between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Iranians are predominantly Shiite Muslims. Most of the Arab world follows the Sunni tradition of Islam.