| 2009 Zahedan bombing | |
|---|---|
 Sistan and Baluchistan Province shown within Iran | |
| Location | Zahedan, Iran |
| Date | May 28, 2009 |
| Deaths | 30 |
| Injured | 60 |
| Perpetrators | Jundullah |
The 2009 Zahedan bombing was an explosion on May 28, 2009 that occurred during Maghrib prayers in Zahedan killing 30 people and wounding 60. [1] There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The governor of Sistan and Baluchestan reported that "a group of terrorists were arrested as they were trying to escape from the province". [2]
Zahedan is the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, shares a border with Pakistan and is the scene of frequent clashes between Iranian police and drug dealers, and militants and terrorists such as Jundallah. In 2007, there was another bombing in the same region that killed eleven people. [3]
This explosion probably was carried out by a group seeking to start a war between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. [4] One day after the attack, Abdel Raouf Rigi, described as a spokesman for the Jundallah group, told Saudi-owned TV channel Al-Arabiya that a suicide bomber had targeted a secret meeting of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards inside the Amir al-Momineen mosque. [5]
On May 30, 2009, three men convicted of smuggling the bombing material and explosives from Pakistan to Iran were publicly executed by hanging near the mosque. All three men were already in detention when bombing occurred and had been tried for a string of bombings claimed by Jundallah in past. [6] A spokesman for the Sistan-Baluchestan provincial judiciary said the three people "confessed to illegally bringing explosives into Iran and giving them to the main person behind the bombing". [7]
The Fars news agency quoted witnesses saying the incident had been a suicide attack. [3] The bomb was suspected to have been put in a briefcase on the men's side of the mosque. The bomb is estimated to have been activated around the time for evening prayer, when the mosque was packed with worshippers on a public holiday. [6] Amir al-Mohmenin mosque is an important shia mosque in Zahedan. [6]
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami stated that he believed the United States and Israel had a hand in the attack. He specifically accused the US of supporting Sunni rebels operating on the border with Pakistan, who are also linked the Al-Qaeda. [8] He also stated "Although those who planted the bomb are the malicious and non-believer Wahabbis and Salafis, the real masterminds are others. Those who planned the crime wanted to undermine the Supreme Leader’s move to help build closer bonds between Shiites and Sunnis during his recent visit to Kurdestan. It is clear that our Shiite and Sunni brothers are vigilant about the plots of the enemies who wish to create discord among them". [9] After three of the attackers were arrested, Khatami announced "According to the information obtained they were hired by America and the agents of the arrogance". Interior minister Sadegh Mahsooli also accused Israel and the US of supporting the terrorists. [10] Jalal Sayah, deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, accused the United States of sponsoring terror and hiring mercenaries to attack Iran. [6] [11] Iranian speaker of parliament Ali Larijani, three days after the terror attack claimed that Iran has intelligence reports regarding the United States links with certain terrorist groups operating against Iran and accused United States, of commanding them and trying to start a civil war between Shia and Sunni segments of Iranian society. Regarding the investigation of bombing, he said that Iran would want Pakistan to cooperate fully and not become a mere part of the designs against Iran. [11]
The US denied the accusation, replying "We do not sponsor any form of terrorism anywhere in the world. Never have, never will." [10]
United States - White house Spokesmen Robert Gibbs said "The United States strongly condemns the recent terrorist attacks inside Iran, the American people send their deepest condolences to the victims and their families. No cause justifies terrorism, and the United States condemns it in any form, in any country, against any people." US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly stated "We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms, and extend our sympathies to the families injured and killed, We note with concern a recent trend of bombings of Shiite mosques in Iraq and Pakistan as well as in Iran and strongly condemn any kind of sectarian driven violence." [10] According to many sources, Jundallah has ties to al-Qaeda. [12] [13] [14] Iran has been critical of the U.S. and U.K. governments for supporting Jundallah. Several sources such as the ABC News, Daily Telegraph, and journalist Seymour Hersh have also reported that Jundullah has received support from the United States against Iran. [15] [16] [17] [18]
Jundallah, also known as the People's Resistance Movement of Iran (PRMI), was a Sunni Salafi militant organization based in Sistan and Baluchestan, a province in southeast Iran. The group shared its name with another Baloch group active in Pakistani Balochistan as part of the same insurgency, that claims to be fighting for the "equal rights of Sunni Muslims in Iran".
The 2006 al-Askari Shrine bombing occurred on 22 February 2006 at approximately 6:44 a.m. local Iraqi time, and targeted the al-Askari Shrine in the city of Samarra, Iraq. The attack on the mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, has not been claimed by any group; the then President of the United States, George W. Bush, claimed that the bombing was an al-Qaeda plot. Although the mosque was severely damaged from the blast, there were no casualties.
Numerous civilians, including men, women, children, government officials, activists, secular intellectuals and clerics have been victims of assassination, terrorism, or violence against non-combatants, over the course of modern Iranian history. Among the most notable acts of terrorism in Iran in the 20th century have been the 1978 Cinema Rex fire and the 1990s chain murders of Iran.
The 2007 Zahedan bombings occurred from 14–17 February in Zahedan, Sistan-Baluchestan Province, Iran. The first bombing occurred at 6:30 a.m. on February 14 when a car filled with explosives stopped in front of a bus carrying Revolutionary Guards in Ahmadabad district. The car exploded, killing 18 and injuring 31 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Jundallah claimed responsibility.
Abdolmalek Rigi was an Iranian Baloch militant who was the leader of Jundallah, a Sunni Islamist militant group based in the Sistan and Balochistan Province in southeastern Iran. In 2010, he was captured and executed by the Iranian government.
The 2009 Pishin bombing occurred on October 18, 2009, when a suicide bomber detonated explosives at a meeting in the southeastern Iranian town of Pishin in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. The attack killed at least 43 people including several notable Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders, and injured a further 150.
Abdolhamid Rigi was the elder brother of the detained leader of Jundallah, Abdolmalek Rigi. Like his brother, he was a member of the militant Sunni Islamist organization, which is widely recognized as a terrorist group, including by Iran and four other countries.
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Events in the year 2010 in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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The Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency is an ongoing low-intensity asymmetric conflict in Sistan and Baluchestan Province between Iran and several Baloch Sunni militant organizations designated as terrorist organizations by the Iranian government. It began in 2004 and is part of the wider Balochistan conflict.
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