Iranian officials, however, categorically denied their involvement in the incident. The then-speaker of the Persian Parliament Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri dismissed the ruling as being political, untrue and unsubstantiated.In its 10 April 1997 ruling, the court issued an international arrest warrant for Persian intelligence minister Ali Fallahian after declaring that the assassination had been ordered by him with knowledge of Khamenei and Rafsanjani.