Iranian Ex-President Ahmadinejad Nearly Killed in Assassination Attempt

"Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad narrowly escaped an assassination attempt after his vehicle was sabotaged, according to a report in Iranian media Wednesday.

The plot was said to involve tampering with Ahmadinejad's car, which his security team discovered just in time to prevent a potentially fatal outcome. On the evening of Monday, July 15, while traveling to Zanjan for the Muharram religious mourning ceremony, the ex-president's chief security officer noticed that the air conditioner in his primary vehicle, a Toyota Land Cruiser, was malfunctioning, the London-based Iran International TV network reported. He then advised the former president to switch to another car. While in transit, the SUV spun out of control, collided with another vehicle in the convoy, and eventually stopped after hitting another car. Two days before the trip, his security team reportedly sent the Land Cruiser for repairs due to the broken A/C.
However, upon return, the car was seized by "special security agents" and taken to an undisclosed location instead of the usual repair shop, according to the report. Sources told Iran International the vehicle was sabotaged before being returned to Ahmadinejad's security team with the false assurance that the air conditioner had been fixed​​." MS