Arash Aramesh

Twin suicide attacks rocked the southeastern city of Zahedan and killed almost 30 individuals. Members of the terrorist organization called Jundollah, soldiers of God, claimed responsibility for the bombings at the Zahedan Grand Mosque. At the time of the attack, crowds were celebrating the birthday of Imam Hossein, the third Shiite Imam, and Pasdar Day, honoring members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

The Iranian government went on the offensive July 16 by accusing the United States and Israel of having been involved in the bombings. The IRIB, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Broadcasting or better known as radio and television, aired numerous clips from the dead and the wounded at the scene and interviewed a number of locals who blamed the US for this atrocity.

According to Fars news, a semi-official news agency with close ties to the IRGC, Hossein-Ali Shahriari, deputy parliamentarian from Zahedan, accused the US of trying to divert attention from the Shahram Amiri case and inflict some pain on Iran.

According to BBC Persian Service, Shahriari resigned his seat in the parliament as protest to the government’s weak handling of the security situation in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

While Tehran is trying to spin the bombings as American retaliation for the Amiri case, Brig Gen Ali Fazli, deputy commander of Basij forces, said that Basij needs to get much more involved in the Sistan and Baluchestan province to bring about security. In the last two years, the IRGC increased its troop presence in the region by a significant margin but was unable to stop such attacks. Fazli, an IRGC general and second in command of the Basij, wants more forces in the form of Basij militia fighters. These Basij forces are likely to come from the Persian-speaking Sistanis and not the ethnic Baluch.

Fearing intra-sectarian violence between Shiites and Sunnis, the IRIB has aired numerous speeches and interviews by leading Sunni and Shiite clerics condemning the attacks and calling on everyone to come together and to show restraint.

Abdolmakel Rigi, the leader of Jundollah, was arrested and executed in Iran for terrorist activities, kidnapping, and murder. The attack could have been Jundollah’s first retaliatory act for the execution of their former leader.