Editor's Note: Important background information on this story was published by the BBC on May 29, 2009. The attack on the mosque in Zahedan has all the earmarks of an operation spawned by the CIA or Mossad. The BBC reported -
"A provincial official in Iran has accused the United States of being behind Thursday's bombing of a mosque that killed at least 19 people.
"Jalal Sayah, deputy governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province, said three people had been arrested following the attack. 'According to the information we obtained they were hired by America and the agents of arrogance'."
"... Jalal Sayah, in comments to the semi-official Fars news agency, accused the attackers of being mercenaries hired by the US. It is a common accusation from the Iranians, the BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran says, and the facts of this case may never be known.
"But it is an open secret that former US President George W Bush directed large amounts of money to try to destabilise Iran and there is no sign the policy is any different under President Barack Obama, our correspondent adds."
Terrorist attacks on mosques for the purpose of creating chaos, hatred, division and war between Sunni and Shia Muslims has been a tool of the real axis of evil - U.S., Israel and Britain - throughout the 6 year occupation of Iraq. By all appearances they are now carrying this hellish tactic into Iran while Obama talks of seeking peace through dialogue.
- Les Blough, Editor
May 30, 2009
Iran executes three men for mosque bombing
The bomb detonated during evening prayers in the mosque |
Three men convicted of bombing an Iranian mosque two days ago have been publicly executed, state media says.
The bombing killed at least 19 people during evening prayers in the south-east city of Zahedan on Thursday.
The three men, who were hanged on Saturday morning near the mosque, were already in custody before the attack.
One Iranian official had earlier accused the US of hiring mercenaries to carry out the bombing - a claim dismissed by Washington.
The men were arrested before Thursday's bombing in connection with other attacks, including a 2007 attack on Iran's Revolutionary Guard in which 11 people died.
Authorities said they were tried and had legal representation.
A spokesman for the Sistan-Baluchestan province's judiciary said the three people "confessed to illegally bringing explosives into Iran and giving them to the main person behind the bombing."
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Spokesman Hojatoeslam Ebrahim Hamidi added: "They were convicted of being 'mohareb' (enemies of God) and 'corrupt on the earth' and acting against national security," Irna reported.
Part of a Shia mosque, Amir al-Mohini, was destroyed in Zahedan, a mainly Sunni Muslim city.
A Sunni militant group had claimed responsibility, with Abdel Raouf Rigi, described as a spokesman for the Jundallah group, telling Saudi-owned TV channel Al-Arabiya that a suicide bomber had targeted a secret meeting of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards inside the mosque.
When an Iranian official accused the US of being behind the bombing, a US state department spokesman denied any involvement.
The bombing, described by the Iranian media as a suicide attack, came at a time of heightened tension ahead of upcoming presidential elections.
A day after the bombing, the President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Zahedan campaign office was attacked by gunmen.
The government has warned that foreign powers are trying to sabotage the process, the BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran says.
With President Ahmadinejad facing an increasingly tough battle for re-election, any growing sense of crisis will certainly not do any harm to this fiercely nationalist and populist leader, our correspondent says.