Iranians Fearful of More Bombings

Iranians reacted with anger and fear Monday to a rare string of bomb attacks that killed at least nine people ahead of a closely fought presidential election on Friday.

Officials have blamed Sunday’s attacks on exiled opposition groups, such as the Mujahedin Khalq organization, based in Paris and Iraq, and foreign agents trying to deter Iranians from voting.

A blast in central Tehran, one of two bombings Sunday in the capital, killed two people. Four bombs in Tehran were defused Sunday and more bomb threats were received Monday, he said.

Workmen in Ahvaz, the capital of oil-rich Khuzestan province in the southwest of the country, were repairing water pipes, power lines and buildings damaged in four blasts outside state offices that killed seven people and wounded 70.

Traffic was back to normal, but the attacks rattled many Iranians ahead of Friday’s balloting.

“I’m not going to vote. I’m afraid of another explosion,” said Ahmad Ali Yacoub, a 36-year-old government employee.

Hashemi Rafsanjani, running to regain the presidency he held from 1989 to 1997, said the attacks were the work of opponents of the Islamic revolution.

“They are trying to intimidate the people because they think the people would not participate in the elections,” he told state television. “It is clear that this will backfire.”