Iran bombing total climbs

Tehran - A suicide attack on a mosque in south eastern Iran killed at least 22 people and injured more than 160, the local governor said on Friday.

Two bombings took place late on Thursday at the grand mosque in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Beluchistan province. The bombs went off within minutes of each other at the mosque's gate.

Sistan-Beluchistan governor Ali-Mohammad Azad told state television that as many of the injured were in critical condition, the death toll was likely to increase.

The radical Sunni group Jundollah, meaning Soldiers of God, claimed responsibility for the bombing as retaliation for the execution of its leader Abdolmalik Rigi in June.

Among those killed were members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stationed nearby. An official of the Revolutionary Guards blamed the US and Israel.

Unstable areas

Given their support for the Jundollah group, "there should be no doubt that these countries are also behind the latest bombings", General Yadollah Javani was quoted as saying by Fars news agency.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned the attacks and called for the perpetrators to be held accountable.

The US has constantly denied the Iranian charges of supporting Jundollah but Iran said that Rigi himself confessed before his execution to have had direct links with the US.

Sistan-Beluchistan province borders Afghanistan and Pakistan, and is a major drug-trafficking region as well as one of the country's most unstable areas.

Abdolmalek Rigi and his group are accused by Iran of trafficking illegal drugs, kidnapping and bombings in Sistan-Baluchistan and sowing discord between the Shiite majority and the Sunni minority across Iran.

The group also claimed responsibility for a bombing in the province in October that killed more than 40 people, including 15 senior members of the Revolutionary Guards.