U.S. refutes terrorism accusations by Iran

The U.S. fired back Friday after Iran pointed blame at the U.S. and Israel for a deadly mosque bombing.

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said during Friday prayers in Tehran that “clues of the involvement of the U.S. and Israel in the recent bombing of a mosque in Zahedan were discernible,” according to a summary carried by the Islamic Republic News Agency.

{mosads}The blast Thursday at a mosque in the southern city of Zahedan killed 25. The Shiite mosque is in a region that includes minority Sunnis, and Iran claimed that the U.S. and Israel wanted to stoke sectarian tensions.

The State Department fired back at the accusation — yet another bump in the road in President Obama’s diplomatic outreach toward the Islamic republic — at Friday’s regular press briefing.

“We condemn this terrorist attack in the strongest possible terms and extend our sympathy to the families of those injured and killed,” said spokesman Ian C. Kelly. “We note with concern a recent trend of bombings of Shia mosques in Iraq and Pakistan, as well as in Iran, and strongly condemn any kind of sectarian-driven violence.

“The U.S. strongly condemns all forms of terrorism,” Kelly continued. “We do not sponsor any form of terrorism in Iran. And we continue to work with the international community to try to prevent any attacks against innocent civilians anywhere.”

A reporter pressed Kelly to confirm “absolutely” the U.S. government’s lack of involvement in the bombing. “We do not sponsor any form of terrorism in Iran,” Kelly responded.

“How about elsewhere?” the reporter asked.

“OK. We do not sponsor any form of terrorism anywhere in the world,” Kelly said. “Never have, never will.”

The cleric wasn’t the only Iranian official accusing the U.S. of the bombing.

“Those who committed the bombing are neither Shi’ite nor Sunni,” Iranian Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli said on the department’s website. “They are Americans and Israelis.”

And an official in the Sistan-Baluchestan province claimed that arrests and investigation in the bombing proved American involvement.

“The terrorists, who were equipped by America in one of our neighboring countries, carried out this criminal act in their efforts to create religious conflict and fear and to influence the presidential election,” Jalal Sayyah of the governor’s office told state radio Friday.

Sayyah further told The Associated Press that “hire of the terrorists by the U.S. was verified based on investigation.”

Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya reported Friday that the Iranian Jundullah, a Sunni group believed to have al Qaeda links, had taken responsibility for the mosque bombing, stating that they had targeted the mosque because the Basij — a volunteer militia loyal to the ayatollah that takes orders from the Revolutionary Guard — were meeting there to plot election strategy.

Tensions are high in the run-up to June 12 elections in Iran, with gunmen opening fire on a campaign office of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Zahedan on Friday, wounding three.