Iran now says mosque explosion was a bomb, not a gas leak
NICOSIA — Iran has changed its story, acknowledging that an explosion that killed 12
people in a mosque was an insurgency bombing.
The Iranian Justice Ministry said Britain, Israel and the United States
facilitated the bombing of a Shiraz cultural center on April 12. The
ministry said Teheran would appeal to the International Court of Justice to
prosecute these countries.
For more than a month, Iran denied that the explosion in Shiraz
comprised an attack. Instead, Teheran said the explosion in the mosque
complex stemmed from a gas leak.
Justice Ministry spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi said 12 people have been
arrested and deemed as key suspects in the bombing. Later, Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the detainees confessed that they were directed by
Britain and the United States.
"Due to sincere and timely efforts of Iranian security personnel, those
involved in Shiraz bombing were immediately arrested and confessed to their
link with the Zionist regime, United States and Britain," Ahmadinejad was
quoted as saying by the official Iranian news agency, Irna.
Officials said Iranian prosecutor-general Qorban Ali Dorri Najaf Abadi
was directed to investigate the bombing. They said Abadi would conduct his
probe outside Iran as well.
"Iran is to bring to justice those masterminding the plot through legal
channels," Ahmadinejad said.
