Iran Shia mosque attack leaves dozens dead
More than 20 people were killed when suspected suicide bombers set off two explosions outside a Shia mosque in the city of Zahedan in Iran's predominantly Sunni south-east on Thursday.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...zens-dead.html

Published: 9:30PM BST 15 Jul 2010

Members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards were among those killed and injured when the explosions hit Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province.

The attack came less than a month after Iran hanged the leader of a militant insurgent group in the region.

Iran's state news agency IRNA quoted the deputy governor of the province as saying the explosions struck in a crowd of Shia worshippers near the main Zahedan Jamia mosque.

"The first explosion took place behind a checkpoint and a number of Revolutionary Guard members were killed and injured because of it," Ali Abdollahi, the deputy interior minister, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency, without giving further details.

Ali Abdollahi, the deputy interior minister, earlier said it was a "suicide operation" which had left more than 100 wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings, but Sistan-Baluchistan province is home to the Jundallah insurgency, a Sunni group that has claimed responsibility for attacks that have killed scores in recent years, including five senior Revolutionary Guard commanders last year.

Jundallah has said it is fighting for the rights of the Sunni Baluch minority in Shia-dominated Iran.

In June, Iran hanged the group's leader, Abdulhamid Rigi, in Zahedan after he was found guilty of carrying out attacks against civilians, armed robbery, and engaging in a disinformation campaign against Iran.

His younger brother, Abdulhamid, was executed in May in Iran after being captured in Pakistan in 2008 and extradited to Iran.

Iran has accused the US and Britain of supporting Jundallah in an effort to weaken the Iranian government, a charge both countries deny. Iran also claims the group is linked to al-Qaeda, but experts have said no evidence of such a link has been found.