Posted on 11/02/2005 2:42:27 PM PST by F14 Pilot
TEHRAN (Reuters) - A small bomb exploded outside the offices of BP and British Airways in Tehran on Wednesday, causing some damage but no casualties, police said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which appeared similar to a bombing outside the same offices in August. The perpetrators of the August blast have not been identified.
British-Iranian diplomatic relations are experiencing a rough patch, with Tehran obstructing British imports and accusing London of fomenting Arab separatist bomb attacks this year in the southwestern oil province of Khuzestan.
"It may be that today's bombing ... was a response to the anti-Iranian stance taken by some countries," Deputy Interior Ministry Ali Ahmadi told the ILNA labour news agency.
Britain has taken a lead role in trying to persuade Iran to stop making atomic fuel, which Washington fears could be used in nuclear weapons, and has accused Iran of aiding Iraqi rebels.
Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has denounced a recent call by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for Israel's destruction, said on Wednesday there was no intention to invade Iran or threaten it militarily.
"What we are however saying is that the Iranian government has got to understand that the international community simply will not put up with their continued breach of the proper and normal standards of behaviour we expect of a member of the United Nations," Blair told parliament.
In Tehran, police spokesman Mehdi Ahmadi said a hand-made bomb had exploded, breaking windows but not hurting anyone.
An employee at the building in a busy Tehran street said the device had gone off in a rubbish bin near a 10th-floor lift.
"It was like the previous time ... The glass entrance door of BP was smashed and the BP office has been evacuated," he said.
A British Airways spokesman in London attributed the blast to a "percussion device ... designed to create more noise than damage".
He said staff at BA's franchise partner BMED, which operates daily flights between Tehran and London, were working as normal.
Today Tony Blair backed off his threat of war with Iran. Don't go wobbly on us Blair!
Message to the Iranian leadership:
Well, well, f***ing well. So you want to try and kill us next, do you, you bastards.
Die, the lot of you. There will always be an England. Your future is 6 feet under.
Regards, Ivan
Oh yeah, also note, that the "new president" Iran has just sacked a few dozen of his current diplomats in "Western and European" nations.
Seems to be moving to an even more belligerent stance.
P.S. They also say they are going to resume refining of Uranium next week. But its only for power... not for 'wiping Israel from the planet' in that blaze of fire they are all chanting about the past few weeks.
Just another day at the office for Brits in Tehran... BMED must be paying well these days.
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