Murders Iran

Iranian moderates Monday blasted conservative rivals in the state security apparatus for failing to halt a recent string of mystery killings that has unnerved the nation and forced some secular intellectuals into hiding.

The fifth mysterious killing of a government foe in just four weeks raised feelings of dread in Iran on Sunday, with speculation that something like an extrajudicial death squad may have emerged with a murderous agenda to defend Islamic rule. The most recent slaying was confirmed when the body of writer-translator Mohammed Jafar Pouyandeh was identified late Saturday by family members, according to news services.

About 2,000 mourners--Iranian writers and their secular supporters--gathered Tuesday to bury slain poet Mohammed Mokhtari, amid word of several arrests in a string of mystery killings that has rattled the Islamic Republic. Writer Mahmoud Dolatabadi appealed for calm, warning the crowd against turning the funeral into a political rally that could be "misinterpreted" in the tense atmosphere.