Shiite cleric Dorri Najaf-Abadi, the countrys chief state prosecutor, told reporters in the Iranian capital that seven persons faced charges related to bombings in Ahwaz. He said two of them, who allegedly led the group, had been sentenced to death.
Najaf-Abadi, a former chief of the theocratic states secret police, known as the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, did not reveal the identities of the detainees, but dissident activists in Khuzistan Province contacted by telephone said all the prisoners were ethnic Arabs. They accused the government of setting up trump charges against Arab activists fighting against Tehrans repressive policies.
A string of top Iranian officials, including hard-line President Ahmadinejad, have accused Britain of being behind the bombings in Ahwaz. Tehran has repeatedly accused the British secret services of training ethnic Iranian Arabs in southern Iraq and sending them to Iran to carry out sabotage operations.
London has repeatedly denied any involvement in the events in the region.
