Iran detains 20 over bombings, hard-line papers accuse Britain of role

CBC:

More than 20 suspects have been detained for bombings in southwestern Iran over the weekend that killed six people, state-run radio reported Tuesday.

Government officials have said the explosions were guided from abroad, and hard-line newspapers called for downgrading relations with Britain for what they said was London's role in the explosions in Ahvaz, capital of Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan Province, which borders Iraq.

The blasts and accusations follow a recent bitter exchange between Tehran and London.

Britain claimed Iran has given Iraqi insurgents explosives technology to bomb British soldiers, and Iran accused Britain of provoking unrest in Khuzestan. Both countries have denied the respective claims.

"More than 20 people have been detained over the Ahvaz bombings," state-run radio quoted Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehei as saying after a closed session of parliament. No further details were provided.

Iranian security officials have concluded that the bombers were trained abroad, according to Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi.

"The equipment they used had also been imported into the country," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Pourmohammadi as saying.

On Sunday, Iran's conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Britain of having a hand in the bombings. READ MORE

The British Embassy has denied the charge and condemned Saturday's two blasts at a central Ahvaz shopping centre that killed six people and wounded over 100.

Iran says the explosive devices used were similar to four bombs that exploded in June in Ahvaz. That attack killed at least eight people. Tehran blamed the earlier attacks on Iranian Arab extremists with ties to foreign intelligence services, including Britain.

Ahvaz security officials also defused a bomb planted under a bridge late Monday, police Col. Ali Miri said.

Ahvaz is near the border with southern Iraq, where 8,500 British soldiers are based as part of the U.S.-led military coalition.

In April, Ahvaz suffered two days of riots after Arab separatists circulated reports that Iran's government planned to decrease the proportion of Arabs in the area. The government denied the claims. Arabs make up less than 3 per cent of Iran's population, and most live in Khuzestan.

Hard-line newspapers demanded the government to take tough measures against Britain.

"Tolerating a crisis imposed on us is against our dignity. We should start with a mild response," the hard-line daily Kayhan said Tuesday. "Closing the British den of spies (embassy) and downgrading diplomatic relations is the least possible measure.