Iran police clash with armed group after bomb

By Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Clashes broke out between police and an armed group following a bomb explosion in southeast Iran on Friday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

The device in the city of Zahedan caused no casualties, an official was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying on Saturday.

The clashes broke out in Zahedan late on Friday. Zahedan governor Hassanali Nouri said police were pursuing those behind the blast.

"The armed bandits, in their new crime, exploded a percussion bomb and fled the scene," Nouri said.

He linked the bomb to the "massive participation of people in the funeral of victims of Wednesday's terrorist act".

A booby-trapped car blew up a bus owned by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday, killing at least 11 people and wounding 31 others.

Responsibility for that attack was claimed by a shadowy Sunni group, Jundallah (God's soldiers), which Iran has said is linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. Tehran has blamed Jundallah for past killings in the area bordering Pakistan.

It was not clear whether the same group was behind the blast in Zahedan.