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Article: Explosive circles: Iran. (Mashhad bombing)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- June 25, 1994
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE bomb that killed at least 25 people on June 20th in Mashhad exploded at the height of the holiest ceremony in the Shia Muslim calendar. The streets were thronged with believers, beating themselves with chains in mourning for Hussein, grandson of the Prophet, killed at Karbala 1,314 years ago. State-controlled television blamed the Mujahideen-e-Khalq, the armed opposition based in Iraq. They in turn accused the regime.
Blaming the Mujahideen is an automatic reaction, enabling fingers to be pointed also at western governments; there are Mujahideen offices in Paris and London. Under pressure from hardliners, the foreign minister, Ali Akbar Velayati, duly summoned ...