Iran starts trial for Jundallah suspects

ZAHEDAN, Iran, June 22 (UPI) -- Provincial leaders in southern Iran said 10 members of Sunni insurgent group Jundallah are standing trial Tuesday for their role in terrorism.

Ebrahim Hamidi, the head of the justice department in Sistan-Baluchistan province, said the 10 members were accused of acting against national security, terrorism and sabotage, Iran's semiofficial Fars New Agency reports.

Jundallah claimed responsibility for an October attack in southern Iran that left several members of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps dead.

Tehran during the weekend announced it executed Jundallah ringleader Abdolmalek Rigi by hanging at the Evin prison in northwestern Tehran. He had been convicted under Islamic law in Iran of militancy against the Islamic republic and 79 separate criminal acts.

Tehran announced that it took custody the Jundallah ringleader Feb. 23 following his arrest on a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan.

Tehran paraded Rigi before television cameras after the arrest, where he told state-funded broadcaster Press TV that he had the support of U.S. officials in Afghanistan

Iranian intelligence officials said Rigi was at a U.S. base in Afghanistan the day before his arrest. The Pentagon denied the claims.

Jundallah isn't included on the U.S. State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations.