Iran makes arrest after Khomeini statue destroyed

Iranian authorities on Sunday arrested an individual for destroying a statue of the Islamic republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini the previous day, a local official said.  

The incident comes as Iran prepares to celebrate in February the 43rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution and Khomenei's triumphant return to Tehran from exile.

It is the second reported attack against statues honouring revered figures of the Islamic republic this month. "We have received a report stating that the statue of Imam Khomeini in the main square in the town of Ardestan was... destroyed yesterday," local governor Hamidreza Taamoli said, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.   

Ardestan is a town in the central province of Isfahan.  "The individual was identified in the shortest possible time and sent to prison," he added, without disclosing the detainee's identity.

"It is not possible right now to speculate on the accused's motives," Taamoli added.  

Earlier this month, the judicial authority announced the arrest of an arson attack suspect on a memorial to revered General Qasem Soleimani.  The statue of him, in the southwestern town of Shahrekord, had been unveiled just hours before the arson attack.