Larijani blasts Washington for bombing

TEHRAN, June 1 (UPI) -- U.S. support for regional anti-Iranian terrorist organizations will inevitably cost Washington "dearly," the Iranian parliamentary speaker said.

A suicide bomber struck the Ali Ibn Abi Taleb mosque in the southern province of Sistan-Baluchestan along the border with Pakistan last week, killing as many as 21 and wounding more than 70 others.

Pakistani-based militant group Jundallah claimed responsibility for the attack. Jundallah is a Sunni group staging opposition to Shiite-controlled Iran through regional militancy.

American journalist Seymour Hersh claimed in his reporting on Iranian dissident groups that Washington had backed Jundallah activities in the past.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, who had blamed the United States and Israel for the attack, said American activities in the region would come at a price, the Iranian Press TV reports.

"As a result of the obstacles they face in the region, the Americans seek to find a way forward, in order to attain their demands at all costs, but these terrorist acts will eventually cost them dearly," he said.

Though Jundallah is mentioned as an affiliate of al-Qaida, it is not specifically listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department.

Meanwhile, a bank in Zahedan, the site of the mosque bombing, caught fire Monday, killing five as violence mounts ahead of the June 12 presidential elections in Iran.