Ambassador leaves Tehran hospital in good health

TEHRAN: Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran left a Tehran hospital in good health on Wednesday, a day after he was injured in an apparent mugging attempt by an Afghan assailant, news agencies reported.

“Mohammad Bakhsh Abbasi, the Pakistan ambassador to Tehran who sustained a minor injury yesterday ... left the hospital moments ago,” the official IRNA agency said during on Wednesday afternoon. “He left the hospital in a satisfactory physical condition.” The unidentified Afghan was arrested, and Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told IRNA news agency that: “during the interrogation, the accused said he wanted to mug the ambassador.”

Tehran police chief Hossein Sajedi-Nia told IRNA on Tuesday that the ambassador had suffered a head injury while walking to his gymnasium. “The ambassador goes to a gym several times a week without his bodyguards,” he said. “While he was on his way, he had a clash with a 21-yearold Afghan. He was injured on the head and fell.”

Published in the Express Tribune, May 13th, 2010.