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Iran official blames U.S. in deadly mosque bombing
Fri May 29, 2009 1:29pm EDT
By Zahra Hosseinian and Fredrik Dahl
TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian official accused the United States on Friday of involvement in a mosque bombing that killed more than 20 people in volatile south-eastern Iran, two weeks before the Islamic Republic's presidential election.
Jalal Sayyah, of the governor's office in Sistan-Baluchestan province, said three people had been arrested in connection with Thursday's blast in a crowded Shi'ite mosque in the city of Zahedan, in a region where many of Iran's minority Sunnis live.
"The terrorists, who were equipped by America in one of our neighboring countries, carried out this criminal act in their efforts to create religious conflict and fear and to influence the presidential election," Sayyah told state radio.
In an incident on Friday in the same city, three people were wounded when gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on the local campaign headquarters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the official IRNA news agency said.
Police later arrested the attackers, it said. Two of the wounded worked in the election office. A child was also hurt.
U.S. BLAMED
Thursday's explosion, which some officials and media suggested was a suicide bombing, took place on a religious holiday in the mainly Shi'ite Muslim country. More than 80 people were wounded.
Sayyah said two children were among the dead. The official IRNA news agency put the death toll at 25 and named most of the victims, all males. Other media gave somewhat lower figures.
The person who detonated the device was standing among men praying in Ali Ebne-Abitaleb mosque and was also killed, provincial judiciary official Ebrahim Hamidi said.
It was one of the deadliest such bombing incidents in Iran since its 1980-88 war with Iraq. A blast in a mosque in the southern city of Shiraz killed 14 people in April last year but the country has been relatively peaceful in a turbulent region.
"It has been confirmed that those behind the terrorist act in Zahedan were hired by America and the arrogance's other hands," Sayyah told the semi-official Fars News Agency.
Iranian leaders, who often accuse the United States and its allies of seeking to destabilize it, refer to Washington as the "Great Satan," guilty of "global arrogance."
Iran has previously accused the United States, its arch-foe, of backing Sunni rebels operating on its border with Pakistan, who Tehran says are linked to the Islamist al Qaeda network.
BLOOD-STAINED MOSQUE
Sistan-Baluchestan province, home to Iran's mostly Sunni ethnic Baluchis, is the scene of frequent clashes between security forces and heavily armed drug smugglers and bandits.
Iranian leaders, who often accuse the United States and its allies of seeking to destabilize it, refer to Washington as the "Great Satan," guilty of "global arrogance."
Iran has also previously accused its arch-foe of supporting Sunni rebels operating on its border with Pakistan.
U.S. INVOLVEMENT DOUBTED
Sistan-Baluchestan province, home to Iran's mostly Sunni ethnic Baluchis, is the scene of frequent clashes between security forces and heavily armed drug smugglers and bandits.
Defense analyst Paul Beaver said it was "highly unlikely" that the U.S. administration of President Barack Obama, who is seeking to engage Tehran diplomatically after three decades of mutual mistrust, would support Sunni insurgents in Iran.
He said history had shown that backing guerrilla groups to effect regime change was "ineffectual and wrong, and the present U.S. administration does not want to be tarnished in that way."
In an incident on Friday in the same city, three people were wounded when gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on the local campaign headquarters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Zahedan, IRNA said.
Police later arrested the attackers, it said. Two of the wounded worked in the election office. A child was also hurt.
In April, Iran's intelligence minister said it had arrested a group of people linked to Israel who were planning bombings before the June 12 election, in which the conservative incumbent, Ahmadinejad, is seeking a second four-year term.
(Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Iran official blames U.S. in deadly mosque bombing
Fri May 29, 2009 1:29pm EDT
By Zahra Hosseinian and Fredrik Dahl
TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian official accused the United States on Friday of involvement in a mosque bombing that killed more than 20 people in volatile south-eastern Iran, two weeks before the Islamic Republic's presidential election.
Jalal Sayyah, of the governor's office in Sistan-Baluchestan province, said three people had been arrested in connection with Thursday's blast in a crowded Shi'ite mosque in the city of Zahedan, in a region where many of Iran's minority Sunnis live.
"The terrorists, who were equipped by America in one of our neighboring countries, carried out this criminal act in their efforts to create religious conflict and fear and to influence the presidential election," Sayyah told state radio.
In an incident on Friday in the same city, three people were wounded when gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on the local campaign headquarters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the official IRNA news agency said.
Police later arrested the attackers, it said. Two of the wounded worked in the election office. A child was also hurt.
U.S. BLAMED
Thursday's explosion, which some officials and media suggested was a suicide bombing, took place on a religious holiday in the mainly Shi'ite Muslim country. More than 80 people were wounded.
Sayyah said two children were among the dead. The official IRNA news agency put the death toll at 25 and named most of the victims, all males. Other media gave somewhat lower figures.
The person who detonated the device was standing among men praying in Ali Ebne-Abitaleb mosque and was also killed, provincial judiciary official Ebrahim Hamidi said.
It was one of the deadliest such bombing incidents in Iran since its 1980-88 war with Iraq. A blast in a mosque in the southern city of Shiraz killed 14 people in April last year but the country has been relatively peaceful in a turbulent region.
"It has been confirmed that those behind the terrorist act in Zahedan were hired by America and the arrogance's other hands," Sayyah told the semi-official Fars News Agency.
Iranian leaders, who often accuse the United States and its allies of seeking to destabilize it, refer to Washington as the "Great Satan," guilty of "global arrogance."
Iran has previously accused the United States, its arch-foe, of backing Sunni rebels operating on its border with Pakistan, who Tehran says are linked to the Islamist al Qaeda network.
BLOOD-STAINED MOSQUE
Sistan-Baluchestan province, home to Iran's mostly Sunni ethnic Baluchis, is the scene of frequent clashes between security forces and heavily armed drug smugglers and bandits.
Iranian leaders, who often accuse the United States and its allies of seeking to destabilize it, refer to Washington as the "Great Satan," guilty of "global arrogance."
Iran has also previously accused its arch-foe of supporting Sunni rebels operating on its border with Pakistan.
U.S. INVOLVEMENT DOUBTED
Sistan-Baluchestan province, home to Iran's mostly Sunni ethnic Baluchis, is the scene of frequent clashes between security forces and heavily armed drug smugglers and bandits.
Defense analyst Paul Beaver said it was "highly unlikely" that the U.S. administration of President Barack Obama, who is seeking to engage Tehran diplomatically after three decades of mutual mistrust, would support Sunni insurgents in Iran.
He said history had shown that backing guerrilla groups to effect regime change was "ineffectual and wrong, and the present U.S. administration does not want to be tarnished in that way."
In an incident on Friday in the same city, three people were wounded when gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on the local campaign headquarters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Zahedan, IRNA said.
Police later arrested the attackers, it said. Two of the wounded worked in the election office. A child was also hurt.
In April, Iran's intelligence minister said it had arrested a group of people linked to Israel who were planning bombings before the June 12 election, in which the conservative incumbent, Ahmadinejad, is seeking a second four-year term.
(Editing by Angus MacSwan)
