Tehran, December 15: An Iranian official says security forces have arrested one of the perpetrators of the terrorist attack in the southeastern Iranian city of Chabahar.
At least 39 people, including women and children, were killed and almost 50 others were wounded in an attack which occurred at the Imam Hussein mosque in Chabahar on Wednesday.
People were commemorating the martyrdom of the third Shia Imam.
“Terrorists aimed to carry out their second attack in the midst of another group of mourners but the vigilance and timely reaction of the security and civil forces neutralized a good part of their plot,” IRIBNews quoted Chabahar Governor Ali Bateni as saying.
Bateni added that one of the three terrorists involved in the attack has been arrested.
Meanwhile, an official with the Iranian Intelligence Ministry said three terrorists, who entered Iran from one of the neighboring countries, planned to carry out blind attacks in the southern and eastern parts of the country.
“One of them was killed in a clash with Intelligence Ministry forces,” IRIBNews quoted the informed source as saying.
The second terrorist was arrested when trying to escape the country, but unfortunately the third terrorist was able to carry out his attack, the Intelligence Ministry official said.
The terrorist group Jundallah has claimed the responsibility for terrorist attacks, the Arabic-language al-Arabiya satellite news channel reported on Wednesday.
Jundallah, a Pakistan-based terrorist group, has carried out numerous bombings, assassination attempts, and terrorist attacks in Iran.
Its leader Abdolmalek Rigi was arrested by Iranian intelligence forces in February 2010 and executed in June for 79 counts of crimes, including armed robbery, bombing operations and armed attacks on police and civilians.
—Agencies