http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=223070
ews code:SPH - 01_HJ31.txt News date: Saturday, July 17,
2010
27 killed, 300 injured in twin suicide attacks in southeast Iran
Tehran Times Political Desk
ZAHEDAN, Sistan-Baluchestan Province - Two suicide bomb attacks claimed 27
lives and left at least 300 people injured in the southeastern Iranian city of
Zahedan on Thursday.
The first bomb went off at 9:30 p.m. local time in front of the Zahedan Grand
Mosque as people were celebrating the birth anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS),
the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (S).
Within minutes of the first bomb blast, as people nearby rushed to help the
victims, a second suicide bomber detonated his explosives, causing greater
carnage.
Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps were among the casualties.
The death toll, initially estimated at 20, has risen to 27 and at least 300
people were injured, some with life-threatening injuries, local officials said
on Friday.
Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi confirmed the number of casualties on
Friday and lamented that 11 of the injured were in critical condition. She
added that 170 of the injured have been operated on in various local hospitals
and others were receiving medical attention.
She also said that a group of surgeons and medical specialists was dispatched
from Tehran to Zahedan on Thursday night to treat the injured people.
The Jundullah terrorist group, whose former ringleader Abdolmalek Rigi was
executed at Tehran's Evin prison on June 21, has issued a statement claiming
responsibility for the attacks.
The announcement, which was posted on the Jundullah web site, said the
terrorist group carried out the attacks in revenge for their leader's
execution. It showed pictures of two suicide bombers wearing explosive vests.
Iran executed Abdolmalek Rigi a month after his brother Abdulhamid Rigi, who
had been captured in Pakistan in 2008 and extradited to Iran, was hanged in
Zahedan.
Sistan-Baluchestan Province Governor Ali-Mohammad Azad declared a three-day
mourning period in the province. He also offered condolences to the families of
the martyrs and the injured.
Once again, the agents of the global arrogance (imperialist countries), who are
enemies of God, displayed their enmity toward the Iranian people over their
unity and solidarity, he stated.
In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the Zahedan Friday prayers leader and
the Sistan-Baluchestan Province governor strongly condemned the terrorist acts
and called on the people to maintain their unity.
The Sunni and Shia Friday prayer leaders from across the province have all
condemned the cowardly terrorist acts.
In response to the terrorist attacks, MP Hossein Ali Shahriari, who represents
Zahedan Province in the Iranian parliament, tendered his resignation to Majlis
Speaker Ali Larijani on Friday.
He said he was resigning because of the failure of the authorities to maintain
security in his constituency.
MP Gholamreza Karami of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy
Committee strongly denounced the terrorist attacks and blamed the mercenaries
of the United States and NATO for what he called efforts to destabilize Iran's
eastern borders.
While they were in custody, Abdolmalek Rigi and his brother confessed to their
crimes and provided corroborative evidence that they had been in direct contact
with U.S. and NATO forces and that their terrorist group operated under the
auspices of the United States, Karami added.
"The terrorist acts in the east of the country were carried out with the aim of
fanning the flames of sectarian violence, destabilizing the border areas,
waging psychological warfare, and undermining the Islamic Republic of Iran," he
observed.
However, such senseless terrorist acts, despite the aims of those who give the
orders, will only consolidate Iran's national cohesion, he added.
Zahedan is the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan Province, which borders
Afghanistan and Pakistan.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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