Iran state TV denies Ahmadinejad assassination attempt

A state-run broadcaster has rejected reports suggesting that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faced an apparent assassination attempt Wednesday.

A conservative website reported that a handmade grenade was tossed in the direction of Ahmadinejad's convoy as it travelled to the town of Hamedan in western Iran. The website report said one person was arrested and that the grenade exploded about 100 metres from the convoy.

But Iran's state-run Press TV quoted unnamed government sources saying that "no such attack took place."

The country's semiofficial Fars news agency reported that a handmade grenade was tossed at the path where the convoy had been, but only after it had departed the site.

Al-Jazeera reported that Iranian government officials said a firecracker went off near the motorcade.

Ahmadinejad gave a speech in Hamedan on Wednesday -- the same speech that he was travelling to in his convoy – though he made no mention of the alleged attack.

His official website indicates that he was in Hamedan "to pay his third round of provincial tours to that province."

Hamedan is close to a Kurdish area of Iran that has seen clashes between rebels and Iranian security forces in recent years.

Ahmadinejad has served as the head of the Iranian government for the past five years. His popularity has dropped as Iran has faced tough sanctions from the international community.

With files from The Associated Press