TEHRAN, (AMN)– At least 20 were killed and more than 100 injured in two explosions that hit a mosque in Iran’s southeastern city of Zahedan on Thursday, the official IRNA news agency reported.
"Two explosions in the front of Zahedan’s Grand Mosque have left more than 20 dead and over 100 injured," Fariborz Rashedi, the head of Sistan-Baluchestan’s emergency unit told IRNA.
The first of the twin explosion occurred at 9:20 p.m. local time (1650 GMT) in front of the provincial capital city’s Grand Mosque, followed by the second within minutes,
Iran’s Deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi described the incident as a "terrorist act," Fars news agency reported.
Among those killed in the blast were members of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), the country’s most powerful military force, the official said.
The Sunni group Jundallah said in an email it sent to Al Arabiyeh television that it had carried out the attacks in retaliation for Iran’s execution in June of the group’s leader, Abdolmalek Rigi.