Tehran, 19 Feb. (AKI) - The Sunni radical group Jundallah (Allah's Brigade) which claimed responsibility for a deadly terror attack last week against a Pasdaran bus denied on Monday that a man hanged that morning at the site of the attack in the southeastern city of Zahedan had anything to do with it. In a statement to Adnkronos International (AKI), Jundallah denied the accusations against the man, Nasrallah Shanbehzehi, and vowed to avenge him. Shanbehzehi, the statement said, "had absolutely nothing to do with Wednesday's action."
Just a few hours after last Wednesday's bomb attack against a bus carrying Pasdaran officials, in which 11 people died, Shanbehzehi was arrested. | Step 1; round up the usual suspects |
He allegedly confessed on state television of having placed the bomb in a car, which was detonated as the Pasdaran's bus was passing by, and of being a member of the Sunni separatist group. | Step 2; 'extract confession' |
After a trial which reportedly lasted only a few minutes, the man was sentenced to death by hanging. In his recorded confession broadcast by Iranian state television, Shanbehzehi said he had been trained in Pakistan and said the United States armed and funded Jundallah - an allegation often made by Iranian authorities. He also said he had received 1,000 euros to carry out the attack.
Zahedan is in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan, close to the border with Pakistan and Afghanistan - an area at the centre of violent clashes between security officials and armed groups. The province has in particular been hit by attacks and kidnappings blamed on the Sunni group, which was founded two years ago by Abdolmalek Righi. Jundallah has since its creation claimed responsibility for 20 attacks and kidnappings of many Pasdaran officials.
The Iranian government, which has blamed ethnic unrest in the southeast on Britain and the United States, accuses Righi and his militants of being "hired by foreign powers" to carry out attacks, funded by the US and in cooperation with Pakistan's intelligence. |