MP resigns after Zahedan terror attack

Zahedan representative in the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) has tendered his resignation following the terrorist attack on the Zahedan Grand Mosque.

In the resignation letter addressed to Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani, Hossein-Ali Shahriari said he was resigning for the inability of authorities to maintain security in his constituency.

Shahriari lamented his failure to assert the rights of Zahedan citizens as well as his inability to help provide security for the people of the provincial capital of Sistan-Baluchestan.

“I hereby tender my resignation on July 16, 2010. I hope that authorities will find a solution so that henceforth we will not witness the loss of our beloved [fellow citizens’] lives in this province.”

On Thursday July 15, two bomb explosions in quick succession took place outside the Zahedan Grand Mosque. At least 27 people lost their lives and more than 100 others were injured in the terrorist attack, which have widely been blamed on extremist Wahabis and Salafis trained by US intelligence in Pakistan.

A security official with the Sistan-Baluchestan governor’s office, Jalal Sayyah, was quoted by IRNA as saying that “so far the identities of 22 of the martyrs of the terrorist attack have been established.”

According to Sayyah some of the injured victims of the attack are in critical condition.

Meanwhile, Sistan-Baluchestan Governor Ali Mohammad Azad has blamed foreign intelligence services for the terrorist attack.

“It is obvious that the intelligence services of certain states and arrogant powers are behind last night’s twin blasts outside the Zahedan Grand Mosque…. Enemies outside Iranian borders are making every effort to undermine Iran’s security,” Azad said on Friday.