Iran Focus
Quoting a senior security official in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the Fars news agency reported that the 17 British military and intelligence officers had cooperated with the individuals who carried out the attacks in Ahwaz and caused disturbances in Khuzestan Province.
At least nine people died and dozens were injured when two bombs exploded at a bank and a government building in the oil-rich city on Tuesday.
Among these individuals are seven intelligence officers, six military training officers, and three members of a special British squadron known as the Desert Rats.
The report said that the actual number of British personnel involved in the attacks was very likely higher but links had so far been discovered to these 17 individuals along with 140 Iranians who had been brought to Basra and al-Amara from European countries, in particular Britain. Aerial photographs of Khuzestan were distributed at a British military camp in southern Iraq, it added.
A string of top Iranian officials including hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have accused Britain of being behind the bombings.
Ahwaz, the capital of the Arab-dominated province of Khuzestan, has been the scene of unremitting anti-government protests since the start of 2005. Iran has pointed the finger at Britain as the primary instigator of anti-government violence in Khuzestan.
The report also accused the Iranian opposition Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK) of involvement in Tuesdays attacks.
It said that six members of the MeK were responsible for organising the attacks in Khuzestan.
The report further claimed that London had provided the group with aerial surveillance and sophisticated spying equipment.
From intelligence that we obtained it was discovered that Britain provided these trouble-makers with equipment used against the Irish Republican Army, it said, adding that similar plots by two British intelligence officers had earlier been discovered.
Both London and the MeK have denied any involvement in the attacks.
