TEHRAN, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Influential Iranian cleric and former president Hashemi Rafsanjani Friday condemned three bombings in Taba, Egypt, as terrorist activities.
The Iranian News Agency, IRNA, quoted Rafsanjani as saying, "the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns such terrorist operations more than any other country."
Some 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded, mostly Israeli tourists, in three bombings that ripped through Taba resorts, including the Hilton Hotel, Thursday night.
Rafsanjani, president for two terms from 1989-97, also condemned the Israeli military's operations in Gaza, in which 100 Palestinians are believed to have been killed.
He described the past week as the "most bitter and painful for the Palestinian people."
Rafsanjani, chairman of the powerful Expediency Council, said Israel, with the use of arms supplied by the United States, "is continuing its massacres against the Palestinians under the pretext of silencing al Qassam rockets."
