Deadly blast strikes Iran mosque

At least nine people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in an explosion at a mosque in Iran, local media reports say.

The blast reportedly occurred during an address by a prominent local cleric in the southern city of Shiraz.

The city's Law Enforcement Force commander, Col Zamani, told the semi-official Fars news agency that the explosion had been caused by a bomb.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

Fars quoted a hospital official as saying at least nine people had been killed and 105 injured. An initial Iranian TV report said scores had been killed, but later revised its death toll to "several".

A police official said a home-made bomb had been planted in the mosque, Fars reported.

The agency said the explosion occurred at around 2100 (1630 GMT) and could be heard a mile (1.5km) away. The Irna news agency said it broke the windows of many nearby houses.

Most of those inside the Hoseyniyeh Shohada mosque were young boys and girls affiliated to the Rahpoyan-e Vesal Association, which "holds weekly meetings every Saturday regarding misguided groups, including Wahhabis and Bahais", Fars added.



Wahhabism is a strict version of Sunni Islam practised throughout the Arabian Peninsula, most notably by Saudi Arabia's ruling family, while the Bahai faith is viewed as heretical by Iran's religious authorities.

Members of the Law Enforcement Force and the Basij militia have placed a cordon around the mosque. Ambulance and fire crews are said to be at the scene assisting the victims.

Television channels urged people in Shiraz to donate blood for the injured, adding that all nurses in the city had been called in on duty.

Shiraz, about 900km (560 miles) south of the capital Tehran, is a major tourist destination because of its closeness to a number of important ancient sites.

It has not been, however, a target of the isolated bomb attacks which have occurred in Iran in recent years.

The last major bombing, in the south-eastern city of Zahedan in February last year, is believed to have been carried out by the Sunni Baluchi militant group, Jundallah.

Thirteen members of the Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed when a car bomb exploded next to the bus in which they were travelling.

The south-western city of Ahwaz, close to the Iraqi border, has seen sporadic anti-government violence since 2005, allegedly by its ethnic minority Arab population.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7344780.stm