27 reported dead in Iranian suicide bombings

Two suicide bombers detonated bombs at a mosque in southeastern Iran today, killing 27 and leaving several hundred more injured.

The explosions occurred moments apart at a Shia mosque, killing both civilians and government officials from Iran's Revolutionary Guards. 27 people are confirmed dead, while reports of injuries totaled 270, and officials said the death toll is likely to rise.

The attacks were reportedly carried out by a Sunni rebel group, Jundallah, who said it was in retaliation for the execution of the group's leader, Abdolmalek Rigi, by the Iranian government in June.

A local official, Hossein Ali Shahriari, said that "[t]he [first] attacker, dressed in women's clothing, was trying to get in the mosque, but was prevented. When people came to rescue those hit in that blast, another bomber blew himself up. Three to four have been killed at least in the first attack;" the remainder were killed in the second blast.

The Revolutionary Guard's top official, Yadollah Javani, blamed the United States, Israel, and Europeean countries for the attacks, citing testimony offered by Rigi before he was executed that claimed Jundallah had received aid from Western powers.

"Rigi's confessions prove that the United States, Zionists and some European countries are directly linked with the Zahedan blasts, because he had confessed that the U.S. wants bomb attacks to be carried out across Iran...one [can] not doubt the involvement of secret foreign services in the efforts to generate tension amongst Muslims."