Jedd Corpse
05-08-2008, 10:13 AM
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/08/iran.explosion/index.html
(CNN) -- Iran has once again switched its account of what caused a mosque explosion last month that killed 13 and wounded more than 200.
Government officials now say it was an act of sabotage -- and that Britain and the United States provided support to the group that carried it out.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8702190369
Iran:
Terrorists in Charge of Shiraz Blast Assisted by US, Britain
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has arrested members of a terrorist group with links to Britain and the United States who were behind a blast at a religious center last month that killed 14 and wounded 200 in the southern city of Shiraz.
Iranian officials had previously said the April 12 blast, in the Shohada religious center during an evening prayer sermon by a prominent local cleric, was caused by explosives left over from an exhibition commemorating the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
"The blast ... was caused by a bombing by a terrorist group with links to Western countries, especially Britain and America," ISNA news agency quoted Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei as saying late on Wednesday.
Five or six people were arrested, including the main culprit who was trying to flee the country, Mohseni Ejei said. The group was found with weapons and "intended to carry out similar acts in other places," he said.
"The group, which has relations to Western countries including Britain and America, has carried out other terrorist activities in the country in the past few years," he said.
Documents obtained in previous cases has proved that Britain and the United States have both striven to destabilize the Islamic Republic by supporting rebels, mainly those in sensitive border areas.
Mohseni Ejei said Iran had handed intelligence about the group to Western nations but they had ignored its appeal for action. "They (those in the group) were even supported," the minister said.
Security is normally tight in Iran and bomb attacks have been rare in recent years. Several people were killed in 2005 and 2006 in blasts in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.
The blast and fire occurred about 9 p.m. in the Rahpouyan-e Vessal cultural center section of Shohada Hosseiniyeh mosque in the city of Shiraz.
The explosion ripped through the hall packed with 800 of worshippers as well-known cleric Anjavinejad delivered his weekly speech against extremist Wahabi beliefs and the outlawed Baha'i faith - both of which are considered heretical by Shiites.
Survivors were being treated at 12 hospitals.
Shiraz - a historical city of more than 1 million people - is known for being home to many scholars, artists and poets, and for local craftsmanship of rugs and metalwork. The tourist city, about 400 miles south of Tehran, is the capital of southern province of Fars.
One of Iran's most famous cities, Shiraz is popular with foreign tourists because of its proximity to important ancient sites from the Achaemenid Empire that ruled much of Asia from 550-331 BC.
The US supporting terrorism? Impossible!
(CNN) -- Iran has once again switched its account of what caused a mosque explosion last month that killed 13 and wounded more than 200.
Government officials now say it was an act of sabotage -- and that Britain and the United States provided support to the group that carried it out.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8702190369
Iran:
Terrorists in Charge of Shiraz Blast Assisted by US, Britain
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has arrested members of a terrorist group with links to Britain and the United States who were behind a blast at a religious center last month that killed 14 and wounded 200 in the southern city of Shiraz.
Iranian officials had previously said the April 12 blast, in the Shohada religious center during an evening prayer sermon by a prominent local cleric, was caused by explosives left over from an exhibition commemorating the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
"The blast ... was caused by a bombing by a terrorist group with links to Western countries, especially Britain and America," ISNA news agency quoted Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei as saying late on Wednesday.
Five or six people were arrested, including the main culprit who was trying to flee the country, Mohseni Ejei said. The group was found with weapons and "intended to carry out similar acts in other places," he said.
"The group, which has relations to Western countries including Britain and America, has carried out other terrorist activities in the country in the past few years," he said.
Documents obtained in previous cases has proved that Britain and the United States have both striven to destabilize the Islamic Republic by supporting rebels, mainly those in sensitive border areas.
Mohseni Ejei said Iran had handed intelligence about the group to Western nations but they had ignored its appeal for action. "They (those in the group) were even supported," the minister said.
Security is normally tight in Iran and bomb attacks have been rare in recent years. Several people were killed in 2005 and 2006 in blasts in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.
The blast and fire occurred about 9 p.m. in the Rahpouyan-e Vessal cultural center section of Shohada Hosseiniyeh mosque in the city of Shiraz.
The explosion ripped through the hall packed with 800 of worshippers as well-known cleric Anjavinejad delivered his weekly speech against extremist Wahabi beliefs and the outlawed Baha'i faith - both of which are considered heretical by Shiites.
Survivors were being treated at 12 hospitals.
Shiraz - a historical city of more than 1 million people - is known for being home to many scholars, artists and poets, and for local craftsmanship of rugs and metalwork. The tourist city, about 400 miles south of Tehran, is the capital of southern province of Fars.
One of Iran's most famous cities, Shiraz is popular with foreign tourists because of its proximity to important ancient sites from the Achaemenid Empire that ruled much of Asia from 550-331 BC.
The US supporting terrorism? Impossible!