Suicide Bomb Blasts In Iran At Least 20 Dead

[Durrak]

lost of innocent lives
a sad mmnt for all

 

[mjnaushad]

RIP the victims.

 

[Spring Onion]

Sad incident. RIP to those who lost their lives.

Death to terrorists who are killing innocent people.

 

[azeemfslbd]

no i m sure Iran will blame this attack on ISI/Pakistan like they did in december.....

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

Sunni group claims Iran mosque blast killing 27

By NASSER KARIMI (AP) – 1 hour ago

TEHRAN, Iran — A Sunni insurgent group said it carried out a double suicide bombing against a Shiite mosque in southeast Iran to avenge the execution of its leader, as Iranian authorities Friday said the death toll rose to 27 people, including members of the elite Revolutionary Guard.

The insurgent group, Jundallah, has repeatedly succeeded in carrying out deadly strikes on the Guard, the country's most powerful military force — including an October suicide bombing that killed more than 40 people. The new attack was a sign that the group is still able to carry out devastating bombings even after Iran hanged its leader Abdulmalik Rigi and his brother earlier this year.

Shiite worshippers were attending ceremonies marking the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein, when the first blast went off at the entrance of the mosque in the provincial capital Zahedan. The male bomber was disguised as a woman, local lawmaker Hossein Ali Shahriari told the ISNA news agency.

Inside the mosque, a cleric was reading from the Quran in front of lines of faithful sitting cross-legged on the floor when the building suddenly shook from the blast and screams were heard from outside, according to footage taken at the time and aired on Iranian state TV.

As people rushed to help, the second explosion detonated 20 minutes later, causing the majority of the deaths and injuries, ISNA reported. The technique is often used by Sunni militants in Iraq to maximize casualties.

Members of the Guard were among the worshippers, particularly because the ceremonies coincided with Iran's official Revolutionary Guard Day. The deputy interior minister, Ali Abdollahi, told the Fars news agency Thursday that several Guard members were among the dead.

Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastagerdi told ISNA on Friday that the toll stood at 27 dead but could still rise, with another 270 injured, including 11 in serious condition.

Iran accuses the United States and Britain of supporting Jundallah in a plot to weaken Tehran clerical leadership, a claim both countries deny. On Friday, officials blamed them for the latest attack.

Gen. Hossein Salami, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guard, told worshippers at the main weekly prayers in Tehran that the victims "were martyred by hands of mercenaries of the U.S. and U.K."

He was echoed by influential lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi who said "America should be answerable for the terrorist incident in Zahedan."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the bombing in the "strongest possible terms" and called for those responsible to be held accountable.

Jundallah has been waging an insurgency for years in the remote Sistan-Baluchistan province, a lawless area where smuggling and banditry are rife. The groups says it is fighting for the rights of the mainly Sunni ethnic Baluchi minority, which it says suffers discrimination at the hands of Iran's Shiite's leadership. Iran has accused the group of links to al-Qaida, but experts say no evidence of such a link has been found.

Iran executed Jundallah's leader in June in Zahedan, a month after hanging his brother Abdulhamid Rigi, who had been captured in Pakistan in 2008 and extradited to Iran. The group named a new leader, al-Hajj Mohammed Dhahir Baluch.

In a statement posted on its Web site, Jundallah claimed responsibility for Thursday night's blast, saying they were to avenge Abdulmalik Rigi's death. It showed pictures of two suicide bombers wearing explosive vests, identified as Mohammad and Mujahid Rigi, apparently members of the leader's clan, though the site did not specify their relationship to him.

The group said its "sons of the faith ... carried out tonight a heroic unprecedented operation at the heart of an assembly of the Guard at Zahedan," claiming to have killed more than 100.

Jundallah has repeatedly targeted the Revolutionary Guards. In its deadliest attack, a suicide bomber hit a meeting between Guard commanders and Shiite and Sunni tribal leaders in the border town of Pishin on Oct. 18, killing 42 people, including 15 Guard members.

The group struck another mosque in Zahedan in May 2009, killing 25 people. In February 2007, a Jundallah car bomb blew up a bus carrying Revolutionary Guards in Zahedan, killing 11.

The Associated Press: Sunni group claims Iran mosque blast killing 27

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

This is just tragik RIP to the dead.

Are we moving towards a gross shia sunni conflict being trigered by foreign elements ..!!! I hope not..!

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

These pictures released by Iran's official IRNA news agency shows the victims of a bomb blast in the city of Zahedan, 940 miles (1570 kilometers) southeast of the capital Tehran, Iran, Thursday, July 15, 2010. Twin bombings killed at least 20 people outside a mosque in southeastern Iran on Thursday _ including members of the powerful Revolutionary Guard _ in attacks that came less than a month after Iran hanged the leader of a militant insurgent group in the region. (AP Photo/Islamic Republic News Agency, IRNA)

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

Jundallah Claims Responsibility for Deadly Iran Blasts

The Sunni Muslim militant group Jundallah has claimed responsibility for Thursday's twin suicide bombings outside of a prominent Shi'ite mosque in southeastern Iran.

Iranian officials say at least 27 people were killed and about 270 wounded in the blasts. They occurred as worshippers gathered in Zahedan to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussein. The victims include members of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard.

Iranian officials have announced three days of mourning in Sistan-Baluchistan province.

Jundallah, or Soldiers of God, says it carried out the attacks in retaliation for Iran's execution in June of the group's leader, Abdolmalek Rigi. Iran had convicted the militant leader of terrorism. On its website, the group warned of more explosions to come.

The group also claims it carried out a similar mosque attack two months ago that killed 25 people in Zahedan. And, it says it is responsible for a bomb attack last October that killed 57 people, including several top Revolutionary Guard commanders.

Iran has accused the United States and Britain of funding Jundallah militants in an effort to destabilize the Iranian government. Iran says Jundallah is based in Pakistan. The U.S., Britain and Pakistan all have denied backing Jundallah.

Jundallah members say they are fighting to secure rights for the Sunni Baluchis in Shi'ite-dominated Iran.

Sistan-Baluchistan province, an impoverished area bordering Pakistan, is the base for an insurgency led by the Sunni militant group. Shi'ites in the province have been the target of numerous attacks.

Jundallah Claims Responsibility for Deadly Iran Blasts | News | English

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

Hillary Clinton slams 'horrific' mosque attacks

The death toll from twin suicide bombings at a Shia mosque in Sunni southeast Iran had risen to 27 yesterday, a top provincial official said.

The announcement came as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned yesterday's "horrific" attacks and called for the perpetrators to be held accountable. "I condemn in the strongest possible terms today's terrorist attacks claimed by Jundallah that targeted Iranians at a mosque in the Sistan-Baluchistan province of Iran," Mrs Clinton said.

"We call for the perpetrators of this horrific attack to be held accountable for their actions.

"This attack, along with the recent attacks in Uganda, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Algeria, underscores the global community's need to work together to combat terrorist organisations that threaten the lives of innocent civilians all around the world."

Members of the elite Revolutionary Guard were among those killed.

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the Jamia mosque in the city of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan, as worshippers were celebrating the birthday of Imam Hussein, grandson of the prophet Mohammed.

The attack "has left 27 people martyred and 270 wounded", Health Minister Marziah Vahid Dastjerdi said.

Zahedan has been repeatedly hit by attacks blamed on Sunni rebel group Jundallah (Soldiers of God), which plays on feelings of resentment among ethnic Baluchis in the province. Jundallah claimed responsibility for the latest attack, which it said was in revenge for the recent execution of its leader Abdolmalek Rigi, who was found guilty of terrorist attacks and armed robbery.

"This operation is in response to the non-stop atrocities in Baluchistan by the regime," the group said in a statement on its website.

Hillary Clinton slams 'horrific' mosque attacks | The Australian

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

Tehran blames US, UK for deadly Iran mosque bombing

Iranians perform Friday prayers at the Tehran University campus. A Sunni insurgent group said it carried out a double suicide bombing against a Shiite mosque in southeast Iran. (Vahid Salemi, Associated Press / July 16, 2010)
​

Sunni militant group Jundallah claimed responsibility for the Iran mosque bombing that killed at least 27 people Thursday. Tehran blames the US and UK for a hand in the deadly suicide attacks.

An Iran mosque twin suicide bombing killed at least 27 people Thursday. It is in an event that is expected to intensify tensions between Tehran and Washington, as Iran alleges that the United States, Britain, and other external powers trained and funded the attackers.

Sunni militant group Jundallah claimed responsibility for the attacks in southeastern Iran on the Shiite mosque. Iranian authorities are investigating the explosions, which also killed members of the elite Revolutionary Guard.

According to the Financial Times, Thursday’s attacks were Jundallah's attempt to seek revenge for the hanging of Abdolmalik Rigi, the militant group's former leader, in June.

In an e-mail to Dubai-based Al Arabiya television station, the group claimed that the bombings were targeting members of the Revolutionary Guard present at the mosque in Zahedan .

The back-to-back suicide bombings injured about 270 people, reports the Los Angeles Times:

According to Iranian news agencies, the first suicide bomber, possibly dressed as a woman, tried unsuccessfully to enter the mosque before blowing himself up, killing and injuring several. A second suicide bomber blew himself up 15 minutes later amid a crowd of bystanders and rescue workers attending to the first victims, killing and wounding many more.

A Zahedan-based journalist, Adel Mazari, said 150 of the 270 wounded were severely injured and remained hospitalized. The statement by Jundallah named the suicide bombers as Mohammad Rigi and Abdolbasset Rigi, both members of the late leader's tribe.

Although Jundallah claimed responsibility for the bombings, The New York Times reports that the Iranian authorities have instead blamed Al Qaeda and CIA-backed militants:

The authorities in Tehran said the insurgents, operating in an area close to the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan, are linked to Al Qaeda. But that claim has not been independently corroborated….

Press TV said [Rigi] had “confessed” that the United States had “assured him of unlimited military aid and funding for waging an insurgency against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

But, the broadcaster said, the Jundallah group had been disbanded and was unlikely to have carried out Thursday’s attacks. It blamed hardline Sunni Muslim activists “trained by the CIA.”

According to the Associated Press, the Revolutionary Guard is holding additional external powers responsible for Thursday’s bombings:

Gen. Hossein Salami, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guard, told worshippers during Tehran Friday prayers that the victims "were martyred by hands of mercenaries of the US and UK."

He was echoed by influential lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi who said "America should be answerable for the terrorist incident in Zahedan."

But Washington was quick to disavow the accusations. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a statement issued July 15, said she condemned the attack and extended her sympathy to the families of the victims. She continued:

The United States condemns all forms of terrorism and sectarian-driven violence, wherever it occurs, and stands with the victims of these appalling acts. This attack, along with the recent attacks in Uganda, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Algeria, underscores the global community’s need to work together to combat terrorist organizations that threaten the lives of innocent civilians all around the world.

Iran has long claimed that Western governments, including the US, support ethnic opposition and militant groups in Sunni-majority Sistan-Balochistan Province in an attempt to undermine the government in Tehran, reported The Christian Science Monitor:

Rigi’s capture is a coup for authorities in Tehran, who have accused the US and the West of backing rebellious minority factions such as Rigi’s Jundallah – which has called for greater rights for Sunni ethnic Baluchis in majority Shiite Iran – the Kurdish PJAK operating from Iraq in northwest Iran, and Arabs in the south.

Such groups and alleged US, British, and other intelligence and military support for them have been the subject of speculation for years, as Washington spoke openly about conducting “regime change” in Iran during the administration of President George W. Bush.

The Christian Science Moniter

 

[ای ایران]

Are we moving towards a gross shia sunni conflict being trigered by foreign elements ..!!! I hope not..!

No. This is not going to start a conflict between Shias and Sonnis in Iran. But certainly, Jondollah is being aided by forces that are foreign to Iran. Altho the Jondollah members are themselves Iranian nationals that take shelter in Pakistan, and at times in Afghanistan too.

Jondollah has since released the identity of their latest suicide-bombers:

Reuters AlertNet - ANALYSIS-Iran bombs send rebels' message of survival
16 Jul 2010 13:47:10 GMT
Source: Reuters

* Bombing shows rebels still active after leader's death

* Group increasingly uses suicide attacks

* Support drawn from animosity to Tehran, narcotics

By William Maclean, Security Correspondent

LONDON, July 16 (Reuters) - An Iranian rebel group has sent Tehran a defiant message of survival after the execution of its leader, carrying out a deadly double bombing that is likely to deepen strains in a region already unsettled by the Afghan war.

Although small, the ethnic Baluch insurgent group Jundollah draws international attention as it is active on the borders between Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, a destabilised region of sectarian tensions, banditry and drug trafficking that poses security risks for all three neighbours.

The group is also periodically a factor in Iran's stormy ties to the United States, most recently strained by the mystery of an Iranian nuclear scientist who reappeared in Iran saying he had been kidnapped by the CIA, a charge Washington dismissed.

Iranian officials have often said Jundollah is a tool of U.S. intelligence -- another accusation denied by Washington -- in an apparent attempt to show to a domestic audience that Washington has sought to destabilise the government.

Jundollah claimed responsibility for two suicide attacks that killed at least 28 people including several Revolutionary Guards on Thursday, said they were retaliation for Iran's execution of its leader Abdolmalek Rigi.

In an email to Al Arabiya television, the group warned of more attacks to come.

Analysts said the strike at a Shi'ite Muslim mosque was evidence the group retained an ability to strike in its home southeast region despite the loss of Rigi, seen by some as a hands-on leader with a prominent role in planning past attacks.

The attack was also in line with an increasingly frequent use by the group of the suicide tactics associated with hardline Islamist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the analysts said.

Opposition secular activist Mehrdad Khonsari said Rigi's death appeared to have "lifted any restraint on what's left of Jundollah from showing it can reassemble itself and re-engage."

"They are very bitter."

DRUG SMUGGLING

The strike was "almost inevitable" after Rigi's execution, said Henry Wilkinson of the Janusian Security advisory group.

"Most of the indications are that Jundollah remains a relatively small group, but one that has evolved as a threat."

Jundollah has said it is fighting for the rights of Iran's Sunni Muslim minority, and the Baluch ethnic minority, but has denied harbouring any separatist or radical sectarian agenda.

Iran rejects allegations by rights groups that it discriminates against ethnic and religious minorities.

Iran says the group has links to Sunni Islamist al Qaeda, and accuses Pakistan, Britain and the United States of backing Jundollah to create instability in southeast Iran, where many Sunni minority live. The three countries deny the claim.

However some analysts say there are signs that group has evolved through shifting links with various parties, including the Taliban, drug smuggling networks and Pakistani intelligence, each of whom saw the group as a tool for their own ends.

Wilkinson said that despite what he called Jundollah's ethno-nationalist orientation, over the past year there had been signs that it had assimilated "practices from jihadist and sectarian elements in the Iran-Afghanistan-Pakistan region."

This shift correlated with an increase in Jundollah's violent activity, he said, citing attacks in 2008 and 2009.

But Wilkinson said he suspected its adoption of suicide tactics and ideals was driven largely by pragmatism.

"Like many terrorist groups, Jundollah needs to innovate to remain viable, visible and relevant," he said.

Analysts say the group's future survival was likely to rest on several longstanding pillars of support.

POVERTY, DEPRIVATION

These were revenue from drug smuggling, support from some Baluchs in southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province as well as from some Baluch businessmen elsewhere in Iran, and an apparent ability to continue to obtain safe haven in Pakistan.

Sajjan Gohel of the Asia Pacific Foundation think tank said the group's resources "were not confined to one place" as its members appeared able to operate across the Pakistan border.

Iranian authorities seemed to have assumed that the group was the creature of Rigi's family, Gohel said, but it evidently enjoyed wider support, and his execution had not affected the group's desire to attack the government in any way.

"I think they will survive," he said, adding longstanding poverty and socio-economic deprivation would continue to fuel resentment of Tehran among local people in Sistan-Baluchistan that Jundollah would be able to exploit for recruitment.

 

[Bhim]

No. This is not going to start a conflict between Shias and Sonnis in Iran. But certainly, Jondollah is being aided by forces that are foreign to Iran. Altho the Jondollah members are themselves Iranian nationals that take shelter in Pakistan, and at times in Afghanistan too.

Jondollah has since released the identity of their latest suicide-bombers:

Dear Irani friends, the pictures have filled me with disgust. These remorseless creatures, how can they feel pride in blowing themselves up?
I admire the Irani people and their way of life, I really hope this nation is also not taken to hostage to dirty activities going on in the AFPAK region.

 

[Frankenstein]

RIP to the deceased

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

misguided, brainwashed, and used people....

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

No. This is not going to start a conflict between Shias and Sonnis in Iran. But certainly, Jondollah is being aided by forces that are foreign to Iran. Altho the Jondollah members are themselves Iranian nationals that take shelter in Pakistan, and at times in Afghanistan too.

Ok so Whats the purpose of Jandullah fighting against the Iranian regime. Is it the Shia sunni conflict or they are fighting to liberate there land ans the BLA in our Balochistan province does...?

I am sure Pakistani State organizations will not be the ones sponsoring there shelter in our part of the territory..or do you disagree with that too..??