“America and the Zionist regime (Israel) try to create discord among Shiites and Sunnis by orchestrating such bombings,” said Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported. “They should know that such measures will not go unanswered.”
Iran’s Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar told state television the attackers had links to neighboring Pakistan and that an investigation was under way. “A group of terrorists who were trained in Pakistan carried out the bombings ... we have informed Pakistani officials as well,” he said.
The bombings killed many children and women, who attended a religious ceremony, state television reported, adding that the death toll was expected to increase.
Jundallah, a rebel group, meanwhile said the attack was in retaliation for the execution of its leader Abdolmalek Rigi in June.
“This operation was in revenge for the execution of the leader of the movement Abdolmalek (Rigi) and other martyrs of Jundallah who were savagely hanged,” the group said on its website.
The website carried the names and photographs of two young men identified as the suicide bombers and said they targeted the “regime’s mercenaries and Revolutionary Guards.”
The bombings were followed by a chorus of condemnation by world leaders.
Jordan’s King Abdallah denounced the “terrorist” bombing and “sent a cable to (Iran’s) President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,” the royal palace said, and “stressed Jordan’s support for the brotherly Iranian people to overcome their terrible ordeal.”
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said France shared Iran’s grief after it “was again plunged into mourning by particularly odious terrorism which targeted a place of worship…”
US President Barack Obama, who has sought to engage diplomatically with Iran while pushing through tougher sanctions on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program, condemned what he said was a “disgraceful and cowardly act.”
“I strongly condemn the outrageous terrorist attack on a mosque in Chabahar, Iran,” Obama said in a written statement. “The murder of innocent civilians … is a despicable offense, and those who carried it out must be held accountable. This is a disgraceful and cowardly act.”
Obama said such acts recognized no religious, political, or national boundaries, adding that the United States condemned terrorism wherever it occurs.
“The United States stands with the families and loved ones of those killed and injured, and with the Iranian people, in the face of this injustice,” he said.
Mahmoud Mozafar, head of the province’s Red Crescent, said his team had received a number of threats before the ceremony. “We were on alert in the past days because of some anonymous threats,” he said.
Iran says Jundallah has links to Al-Qaeda and has accused Pakistan, Britain and the United States of supporting the group to stir instability in southeast Iran. The three countries deny backing it.
