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Mosque attack to sow sectarian strife: Iran

DUBAI: Iran has said that the bombing of a Shia mosque on Thursday which killed 25 persons and injured 125 was meant to destabilise the country.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a late evening statement on Friday that the attack was meant to light “the fire of ethnic and sectarian strife” in order to destabilise the country.

The Shia Amir al-Momenin mosque was partially destroyed by the blast. The Jundullah group,. a hardline Sunni outfit, has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack in the city of Zahedan, close to the border with Pakistan. On Saturday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemned the attack. “The Sunni and Shia brothers will undoubtedly recognise and neutralise conspiracies through their vigilance,” he said. Mr. Ahmadinejad also hinted at the possibility of foreigners masterminding the attack. Meanwhile, three men allegedly involved in the bombing were executed on Saturday, state media reported. The trio had been arrested ahead of the Thursday evening attack for smuggling explosives into Iran and handing them over to the perpetrators, Iranian judicial authorities said.

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