 |
| Iranian police forces secure the scene
outside the Governor's office, where one of the four bombs exploded in
southwestern city of Ahvaz, killing at least eight and injuring some 75
people. (AFP photo) | TEHRAN, June 12 (Xinhuanet)
-- Five bomb explosions took place in Iran on Sunday, killing ten people and
injuring nearly 40, five days ahead of the presidential elections.
The latest explosion occurred at the Shohada-Safa juncture near
the Imam Hussein Square in central Tehran at about 20:20 local time (1550 GMT)
when a small bomb went off, killing at least two people and wounding four
others, state media said.
The official IRNA news agency quoted residents as saying that
shortly after the blast police and fire fighters arrived at the scene and there
might be another bomb set nearby.
"Police are trying to defuse a bomb," a witness said.
Tehran's explosion came just several hours after four bombs blew
up in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz, killing eight people and injuring
scores.
The explosions in Ahvaz, capital of the oil-rich Khuzestan
province bordering Iraq, took place near four crowded locations separately,
including the governor's office, a civilian residence center, a public service
agglomerate with some financial institutions and a governmental organizations'
center, a source told Xinhua by phone.
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|
Rescue workers
are moving body of a victim in the explosion into the
ambulance. |
It has not been proven yet that the Tehran explosion is related
to those in Ahvaz.
The serial explosions happened just five days ahead of Iran's
ninth presidential elections.
Gholam Reza Shariati, deputy governor of Khuzestan, told state
television after the four explosions in Ahvaz that the explosions were aimed to
damage the country's integrity and undermine the elections.
"We cannot say for now who were behind the attacks, and it is
still under investigation, but certainly they cannot reach their aim of spoiling
the elections," Shariati said. Enditem |