Assassination attempt on Iranian President

POLITICS - An explosion near Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's convoy was an assassination attempt, but Iran's government is now claiming it was just fireworks set by a fan of the president.

According to other reports however it was a handmade grenade that was thrown at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's convoy while en route to the airport. The explosion was delayed and caused a lot of smoke and the convoy was tens of meters away before it exploded. The Iranian president was unharmed by the explosion and he made his speech at the airport at the scheduled time, making no comment about the explosion and instead defending Iran's nuclear weapons program.

The United States, Israel and allies wants Iran to stop trying to develop atomic weapons. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insists their atomic research is only for peaceful energy purposes. Iran has been enriching uranium for the purposes of making plutonium, which is only used in nuclear weapons and isn't used in nuclear energy because its too unstable.

Ahmadinejad accused the USA of "resorting to lies" and bullying Iran with threats of war.

Iranian police arrested one man in connection with the homemade grenade attack, but insist the explosion wasn't near Ahmadinejad's car.

Ahmadinejad's popularity is waning in Iran because the economy is sluggish and faltering due to economic sanctions. He is touring the country giving speeches to boost his support. Having an assassination attempt will only put media pressure on the fact his support is weakening.

On Monday Ahmadinejad said during a speech that Israel had sent agents in an attempt to assassinate him, but refused to give details. A Kurdish group was caught a daily earlier in Tehran which was apparently planning an assassination attempt.