Monday, June 13 2005 08:17 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ahvaz: Iran was struck by a wave of deadly bomb attacks in this restive south-western city and in the capital Tehran yesterday (Jun 12, 2005), with the Islamic regime accusing US-backed "terrorists" of seeking to destabilise the country ahead of Presidential elections.

At least eight people were killed and 75 wounded by a series of four blasts outside several public buildings in Ahvaz, an ethnic Arab majority city close to the Iraqi border and capital of oil-rich Khuzestan province.

Later, another blast hit a busy square in Tehran, killing two people and seriously wounding three, official media said.

"The terrorists of Ahvaz infiltrated Iran from the region of Basra" in southern Iraq, top national security official Ali Agha Mohammadi told agencies.

"These terrorists have been trained under the umbrella of the Americans in Iraq," he charged, adding that Iran suspected British troops across the border might also have links to the ethnic Arab separatist group.

"We call on the Americans and the British to condemn these attacks and hand over the terrorists in Iraq. Sadly, they have so far not said anything," Mohammadi said.

Khuzestan's deputy Governor, Gholam Reza Shariati, said the well organised and unprecedented attacks in Ahvaz were aimed at damaging "the territorial integrity of the country and the election process".

Iran is due to go to the polls to elect a new President on Friday (Jun 17, 2005).