Tehran:
Iranian police arrested 40 people following the devastating bombings of a mosque in the
southeast as funerals were under way for the victims, local media reported on Saturday.
Gen Ahmad Reza Radan, Iran's deputy police chief, told the semiofficial Fars agency that the suspects "intended to create insecurity in Zahedan after the bombing," but all was now calm in the city.
A Sunni insurgency called Jundallah, which has carried out several other bombings in the southeast over the past few years, claimed responsibility for the twin blasts, which killed 27.
Radan said that two policemen were among the dead and 10 others were wounded. Members of the elite Revolutionary Guards were also reportedly killed.
Thousands turned out on Saturday for the mass funerals, marching through the streets and chanting "death to terrorists" and "down with the US," according to footage shown on state TV.
Iranian officials continued their traditional stance of blaming foreign countries, particularly the US, for the bombing.
"Americans cannot make an excuse in this case, they were behind the terrorist act in Zahedan," Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani told TV.
Deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi, meanwhile said those carrying out the crime "were trained and equipped beyond our borders and then came into Iran."