The death toll in Tusday's double bombing which ripped through two buildings in the southwestern provincial capital of Ahvaz, Iran, has risen to six. The bombs reportedly exploded in a government building and a bank, according to a report by Reuters, quoting MEHR.
Rescue vehicles rushed to the scene, where the number of wounded is still unclear.
The city of Ahvaz, home to many of Iran's Islamic Republic Arab minority, has been the scene of sporadic unrest in the past, when deadly clashes occured in between the city's residents and Iranian authorities.
Tension began in April following rumors that the Iranian government intended to lessen Arab influence in the area by transferring non-Arabs to the region. Five people were killed in the clashes.
13 more people have been killed since in two explosions in the region in June and October.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly cancelled a visit to Ahvaz today that had been planned before the explosion.
Heavy rain in the region was given as the reason for the cancellation, according to IRNA. It is unclear whether the blast had any connection to Ahmadinejad's cancellation.
Iran threatens to close off Straits of Hormuz if UN sanctions are imposed on it
Meanwhile, in an unprecedented move, a senior Iranian official threatened publicly on Monday to close off the Straits of Hormuz to oil export if the United Nations decides to impose sanctions on Iran.
The statement, which appeared on an internet website, quoted the deputy chairman of National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran's parliament, Mohammed-Nabi Rudaki.
Rudaki said that Iran may also withdraw from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), of which it is a member, as well as from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if sanctions were imposed.
"If Europe does not act wisely with the Iranian nuclear portfolio and it is referred to the UN Security Council and economic or air travel restrictions are imposed unjustly," Rudaki said, according to Haaretz, "We have the power to halt oil supply to the last drop from the shores of the Persian Gulf via the Straits of Hormuz."
By hindering the transport of oil through the Straits of Hormuz, Iran has the capability of holding up one quarter of the world's oil supply, which passes through the straits.
By imposing such a closure, Iran would be stopping the movement of oil from other oil producing countries in the Persian Gulf as well as its own, including Kuwait and the UAE.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
