Iran on Thursday accused Pakistani officials of being connected with this week's suicide bomb attack in the south-east of the country, state media reported. "Some local Pakistani officials are linked to the terrorist act in Chabahar," Ali Abdollahi, the deputy minister and head of security at the Interior Ministry, told official news agency IRNA.

The officials concerned "have granted permission for the terrorists to cross the border into Iran," he was quoted as saying. The coastal city of Chabahar is approximately 100 kilometres from the Pakistani border. "The base of the terrorists is on the other side of the Pakistani border and despite several warnings by Iran, the Pakistani side has done nothing to arrest these terrorists," Abdollahi said.

The spokesman of the parliamentary security commission also said that the terrorists involved in Wednesday's attack were trained in Pakistan. "Pakistan should clarify its stance towards these terrorists and our government should take serious and practical steps in this regard," Kazem Jalali told IRNA. Officials had earlier accused the United States and Israeli intelligence services of supporting Jundollah.

Copyright Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 2010