President Rouhani Pelted with Eggs During Campaign Visit in Golestan

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was met by angry protesters during a visit to Azadshahr in northern Iran, on May 7, several days after a tragic mining accident killed over 30 coal miners.Conflicting reports suggest that the protesters, who surrounded Rouhani’s vehicle and pelted it with numerous eggs, may have been spurred on by the local branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iranian Student News Agency reports claim that the majority of workers and widows who came to hear Rouhani speak were respectful and patient; however, at one stage in the president’s speech, the ISNA reports suggest several men who attacked the car appeared to have arrived from elsewhere and disguised themselves as mining employees. Storyful could not independently confirm any of the claims regarding the incident.In this context, Iranian state-run Press TV included no mentions of the protest in its own reporting on the May 7 visit to Azadshahr. However, Fars News, a media outlet with known ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, heavily emphasized the protest in its own reporting on the incident.