Iran blames West, Israel for bombings despite condemnation

(TEHRAN) - Iran blamed the West and Israel on Saturday for twin suicide bombings which killed at least 27 people, despite condemnation of the attack by the European Union, United Nations and United States.

Police meanwhile said security forces killed six "criminals" on Friday in Sistan-Baluchestan province where the bombings occurred and arrested 40 people for "creating disturbances" in the provincial capital of Zahedan.

"This blind terrorist act was carried out by the mercenaries of the world arrogance (the Western powers)," state television's website quoted Deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi as saying about Thursday night's bombings.

"The agents of this crime were trained and equipped beyond our borders and then came into Iran," Abdollahi said.

Influential lawmaker Alaeddin Borujerdi went a step further and pointed the finger at Pakistan's intelligence services which he said "have ties with the terrorists," Fars news agency quoted him as saying.

"The terrorists enter Iran from neighbouring countries and Pakistan, and so the Pakistani government and its army intelligence must revise their ties with them and do something to confront these criminals."

Sunni militant group Jundallah claimed responsibility for the bombings which targeted members of the elite Revolutionary Guards at a Shiite mosque in Zahedan.

It said the attacks were to avenge the execution of their leader Abdolmalek Rigi on June 20.

Jundallah claims it is fighting for the rights of Baluchis who make up a significant proportion of the population of Sistan-Baluchestan province and who, unlike Iran's Shiite majority, mainly follow the Sunni branch of Islam.

The province borders Afghanistan and Pakistan and analysts says Jundallah has exploited the unrest in the region to find safe haven on the frontier.

Parliament speaker Ali Larijani directly accused the United States for the bombings.

"Today, the country is mourning the tragic explosion in Zahedan which was done with the backing of Americans. Americans can't come up with any excuse since they are connected with the Rigi group," he said, quoted on the website.

Crowds of mourners gathered outside Zahedan's Jamia mosque, where the bombers struck, to take part in a mass funeral for the victims of the attacks.

"Those who committed these terrorist acts are neither Shiite nor Sunni," read one banner carried by the mourners, while crowds chanted: "Death to terrorists," the official IRNA news agency reported.

Six "criminals" were killed on Friday in three different incidents which occurred in the border areas of Sistan-Baluchestan, Iran's deputy police chief Ahmad Reza Radan told ISNA news agency.

He said clashes broke out as security forces blocked various roads in the province but he did not specify if the six were connected to Thursday's bombings.

The deputy police chief also said that police had arrested 40 people in Zahedan for "creating disturbances" in the city after the bombings.

Tehran has long charged that Washington has provided support to the Rigi group as part of efforts to destabilise the Islamic regime by fomenting unrest among ethnic minorities in sensitive border areas.

US President Barack Obama condemned the "outrageous terrorist attacks," while UN chief Ban Ki-moon blasted a "senseless act of terrorism" and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said they were "cowardly" attacks.

Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar pointed the finger at Israel, Iran's arch-foe.

"The terrorist act by the Zionists had a number of objectives, including creating division between Shiites and Sunnis," the ISNA news agency quoted Najjar as saying.

He said Iran's security and intelligence services now had "a grip on the situation."

But MP Abbas Ali Noora from Sistan-Baluchestan resigned in protest at the handling of security in the province, saying such an attack was expected after the execution of Rigi.

"The culture of this region is of revenge. After Rigi's execution, we had warned that this group would retaliate," he told ILNA news agency.