AFP: Iran has foiled an attempt by “British spies” to blow up it largest oil refinery in the southwestern city of Abadan, a senior provincial official was quoted as saying Wednesday. AFP
TEHRAN – Iran has foiled an attempt by “British spies” to blow up it largest oil refinery in the southwestern city of Abadan, a senior provincial official was quoted as saying Wednesday.
The head of the judiciary in Khuzestan — the scene of a recent string of bombings and attempted attacks — told the hardline Jomhuri Islami paper that the “agents were attempting to blow up Abadan’s refinery using five Katyusha rockets with a timer on them.”
The official, Sayed Khalil Akbar al-Sadat, gave no further details.
The latest allegations against Britain come amid mounting tensions between London and Tehran.
On Saturday, a double bomb attack killed six people and injured more than 100 in Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan province, and on Tuesday police said they had defused a large bomb planted under a bridge in the city.
Several officials, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have pointed the finger at British troops based just across the border from Ahvaz in Iraq — allegations which have been angrily denied by Britain.
Ahvaz, dominated by ethnic minority Arabs, has been hit by a wave of unrest this year, including riots in April and a series of car bombings prior to Iran’s presidential election in June.
“We have not found any proof that Britain is not involved in the events in Ahvaz and we have not seen anything that would dissipate our doubts about that country,” Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other senior officials have said there is evidence of an Iranian connection to a series of deadly attacks on British troops in southern Iraq.
Britain is also playing a leading role in efforts to force the Islamic republic to limit its nuclear fuel activities, seen by critics as a cover for weapons development.
