Blast in Iran kills 12, injures dozens

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[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]TEHRAN (Reuters)[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Officials blamed the blast, in the city of Mahabad in the predominantly Kurdish area near the borders of Iraq and Turkey, on "anti-revolutionary" militants backed by foreign states.[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"This bomb was a time-bomb planted on a tree among the people and it went off at 10:20 (0650 GMT)," the website of state-run television IRIB quoted a military official as saying.[/FONT]

[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on the parade, which was part of "Sacred Defense" celebrations, an annual ceremony for the Iranian military.[/FONT]

[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"Counter-revolutionary groups, by inserting themselves among the people attending the armed forces parade, showed their heinous face," said Vahid Jalalzadeh, the provincial governor of Iran's West Azerbaijan province.[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Television footage showed troops marching past a podium when a blast happened. Pictures of the aftermath showed blood on the ground, shoes and an abandoned pram. The government announced three days of mourning in the city.[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The attack occurred as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York amid a standoff between Tehran and major powers over Iran's nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at making weapons.[/FONT]

[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"The blast was aimed at the president's political success in New York as well as Iran's defense power," Mehmanparast told the IRIB website. "It was a reaction of the Zionist regime (Israel) and its supporters (Washington)." Iran does not recognize Israel.[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]On August 4 a homemade explosive went off near Ahmadinejad's motorcade as he travelled to the western city of Hamadan. He was unharmed and officials said the blast was just a firecracker.[/FONT]

[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]U.S. BLAMED[/FONT]

[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Several armed groups hostile to the government are active in Iran, including Kurdish separatists in the northwest, Baluch militants in the southeast and some Arabs in the southwest.[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The Sunni Muslim Jundollah Baluch militant group, which Iran says has linked to al Qaeda, is the most active. It claimed a double suicide attack that killed 28 people, including Revolutionary Guards, on July 15 in revenge for the execution of its leader.[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]In Mahabad, Jalalzadeh said Wednesday's explosion happened some 50 meters (160 ft) from the podium and that two military officials' wives were among the dead.[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]No casualties were reported among the military personnel and political dignitaries attending the annual parade -- one of several held across the country to commemorate Iran's eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s.[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]About one million people were killed in the war, a traumatic period in Iranian history but one which helped unify Iranians around the leadership of the then new Islamic Republic.[/FONT]

[FONT=tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]By Robin Pomeroy and Ramin Mostafavi[/FONT]
 
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