Iran arrests 'Sunni militants' over bombing

TEHRAN: Iran has arrested a number of suspects linked to a Sunni militant group over a deadly bomb attack last month in the southeast of the country, the semi-official Fars news agency said on Sunday.   

"The people behind this (bombing) have been identified. They are supporters of Abdolmalek Rigi," Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Baqer Zolghadr said, referring to the leader of the Sunni militant group Jundallah.   

"This group has been confronted several times and some of its elements have been arrested. But we cannot yet confirm whether these people were the bombers," he added.   

One person was killed last December in a car bomb explosion in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province, on the eve of local elections.   

Bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan in southeast Iran, Sistan-Baluchestan is a major throughfare for narcotics and the scene of frequent deadly clashes between smugglers and the police.   

The province has also been hit by a string of attacks and kidnappings blamed on Rigi's shadowy hardline Sunni group Jundallah (Allah's Brigade).   

Iranian officials have accused Britain and the United States of supporting ethnic minority rebels operating in the Islamic republic's sensitive border areas.