The Iranian Ministry of Justice has accused Britain and America of harboring terrorism in Iran. The authorities claim that 12 people were arrested in relation to the recent bombing incident in the southern city of Shiraz. The explosion, which occurred in a mosque killed 14 people and wounded more than 200 others. The official statement of the Ministry of Intelligence confirmed the claim by the Ministry of Justice that they have identified and arrested a "terrorist network with direct links to United States. In the "counter-terrorist operation, they have confiscated weapons, explosives, and chemical materials, which were supposed to be used for "terrorist acts throughout the country. The Iranian Intelligent Service has announced that the network, which was responsible for the blast in Shiraz, was financed and guided by the US. They say that, the "terrorist network operated in the capital as well as other provinces such as Fars, Gilan, Khuzestan and Eastern Azerbaijan. Apparently, they were preparing to bomb the International Book Exhibition in Tehran and other crowded places in big cities. According to the Iranian authorities, the American backed "terrorist organisation was intending to attack the Russian consulate in the province of Gilan in order to undermine the Iranian ties with Russia. The Iranian Intelligent Service stated that, United States has given the "terrorists training and instruction to identify and destroy the oil pipelines in the south. Although, the US has not shown any official reaction yet, several factors can raise questions about the Iranian claim. Firstly, there have been some inconsistencies in explaining the blast in Shiraz. Initially, no link was found between the incident and terrorism. They said that, the deadly explosion was only result of an accident. However, later on the Minister of Interior, Mustafa Pour-Muhamadi, contradicted the first statement and linked the explosion to a "terrorist organisation connected to the "monarchists. Now, the Intelligent Service claims that the bombing was directly related to an American backed "terrorist network. Secondly, there is no evidence to suggest that the US would deliberately increase the already growing oil prices by helping a "terrorist network to blow up the oil pipelines. Without any doubt, the smallest incident effecting the oil production in Iran would significantly add to the rising prices of petroleum in the international market. The further drastic raise of the oil price in the current situation could have serious repercussions for the existing troubled US economy. Nevertheless, until the Iranian government provides more details, the possibility of American involvement in "terrorism cannot be completely ruled out. At the same time it is possible to conclude that, the Iranian attempts to link the US to terrorism, at least partly, is a response to the American claim that Iran sponsors terrorism in Iraq and Lebanon. Last week in particular, Iran was warned to stop interfering in the Lebanese internal affairs. Although, Tehran denies the accusations, Washington holds Iran directly responsible for supporting and financing "terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah. Since, the occupation of Iraq by the coalition forces, America has consistently blamed Tehran for harboring "terrorist movements in Iraq. At the same time, the Islamic Republic never hesitated to link its internal security problems to the American and the British governments. Previously, the Iranian regime has accused British and American secret services for their association in a series of fatal bombings, which occurred from June 2005 to March 2006 in the Arab populated province of Khuzestan. Both London and Washington have denied involvements in any of the incidents.
