Iran President Escapes Injury in Terrorist Blast

A man with a bomb strapped to his waist blew it up in the middle of a prayer service crowd at Tehran University on Friday, killing at least five worshipers and wounding 10 others. Iranian President Ali Khamenei, who was speaking at the service, escaped uninjured.

Iranian state radio said that Khamenei resumed his sermon shortly after the blast as the devout chanted “Allah Akbar”--God is great. The Iranian leader blamed Iraq for the terrorist bombing and charged that the Baghdad government had renewed its use of cyanide and nerve gas in five regions in the southern war front.

‘Capable of Retaliation’

“We declare here and now that we are capable of retaliation against every action,” Khamenei said shortly. “If Iraq uses chemical weapons, we will give a firmer reply and be sure that we will do it.”

Khamenei pledged that Iran will “answer every fist with a harder fist” in the lengthy war between the neighboring countries.

The university bombing coincided with more fighting around the Howeiza marshes east of the Tigris River, with both Iran and Iraq claiming the upper hand in the battles. As reporters or Western observers are seldom allowed near the front lines, there was no independent verification of the battlefield claims.

Air Raids Reported

In Baghdad, an Iraqi military communique said Iraq was intensifying air raids against “selected targets” in Iran. It said, without elaborating, that Iraqi jet fighters raided the northwestern Iranian city of Arak and the city of Hamadan, 240 miles southwest of Tehran.

Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency said two Iraqi planes tried to bomb Tehran residential areas Friday, but anti-aircraft fire drove them away.

Meanwhile, in Rome, a spokesman for state-run Alitalia airlines said that Italy’s Foreign Ministry sent a charter flight to Tehran on Friday to pick up Italians and other foreigners. The man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the DC-10 returned to Rome with 157 passengers. Alitalia has canceled regular flights to Baghdad and Tehran because of the danger of missile attacks.