Ahmadinejad Adviser Accused Of Beating Up His Wife

Mehdi Kalhor: under fire

An Iranian news website “Ayandehnews” has reported that President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s media adviser, Mehdi Kalhor, has been summoned by the police on suspicion of having beaten up his ex-wife.

The website reports that Kalhor visited his ex wife, Massoumeh Taheri, on the evening of February 1. Shortly after he entered her house, neighbors reportedly heard a woman screaming before Taheri came out of the apartment and seeked refuge in the flat of one of the neighbors.

The website quotes the neighbors as saying that there were injuries around her neck.

Kalhor has not yet commented on the report. But Taheri has told “Ayandehnews” that she “escaped death” and that the issue is being investigated by the judiciary.

Kalhor‘s tense relations with his ex-wife became public last October when his daughter, Nargess Kalhor, applied for political asylum in Germany after presenting her film at a German film festival.

Kalhor then gave an interview to Iranian media and said that his daughter and wife had left him over political differences and his support for Ahmadinejad.

Kalhor’s wife rejected his comments and told the semi-official Mehr news agency that Kalhor had lied about the reasons for their divorce. She said then that she was ready to offer proof that she was still legally married to the presidential adviser.

-- Golnaz Esfandiari