Iran accuses Britain over bombing

CNN
Jan. 25, 2006

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran on Wednesday accused Britain of cooperating with bombers who killed eight people in the southern Iranian city of Ahvaz on Tuesday.

"Their (British) cooperation, either in London or Basra, is clear and we will seriously express this to British officials," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been due to visit the southern city where bombs exploded at a bank and government building, his officials said.

Ahmadinejad had been due to visit Ahvaz on Tuesday, but his office said he cancelled the trip on Monday night.

Differing reasons for the cancellation were reported: Reuters said it was due to sandstorms that would have wrecked his hallmark walks through the streets while the official Islamic Republic News Agency, quoted by The Associated Press, said heavy rain was to blame.

Ahmadinejad and his entire Cabinet had been expected to meet in Ahvaz -- a city with a history of violence involving members of Iran's Arab minority -- as one of a series of visits to regional capitals to address key local issues.

Lebanon's al-Manar television, run by the Hezbollah militant group, said earlier that Tuesday's bombs had been intended to kill Ahmadinejad. Its Tehran correspondent said the president had canceled his trip after a security tip-off.

Tuesday's explosions followed bitter exchanges between Tehran and London. Iran has accused Britain of provoking unrest in Khuzestan, which lies across the border from southern Iraq, where 8,500 British soldiers are stationed.

Britain has also opposed Iran's nuclear activities, supporting moves to refer it to the U.N. Security Council, and has accused Tehran of backing Iraqi insurgents in attacks on British soldiers.

Both countries have denied the claims and counterclaims.

Ahvaz city governor Mohammad Jafar Samari said Tuesday there was no word on who planted the bombs.

"The place where the bombs exploded was a long way from where the president had planned to make a speech," he told Reuters.

Iranian news agencies said the Saman bank was gutted by fire and broken glass littered streets near the blast sites.

Iranian authorities are sensitive about protests in Ahvaz and the surrounding province of Khuzestan, which sits on most of the country's oil reserves, the second biggest in the world.

Bombings took place in Ahvaz last June and October that the government blamed on Iranian Arab extremists whom it claimed were trained abroad and had ties to foreign governments, including Britain.

The October bombings killed six people and those in June killed at least eight. Britain denied any link to the unrest.

Nezam Molla Hoveizeh, a Khuzestan lawmaker, said Tuesday the bombers were "dissidents based outside our borders," IRNA reported, without elaborating.

A preliminary United Nations report said Arabs, who comprise about three percent of Iran's 69 million people, were discriminated against with regard to basic amenities, resources and legal rights.