Tehran, Iran - An explosion Saturday during a meeting of an Iranian Shiite religious group killed at least nine people and wounded 66 in the central city of Shiraz, according to Iranian state media reports.
Initial investigations into the cause of the blast showed it was not a bomb, Ebrahim Azizi, governor general of Shiraz, told Iran's state news agency, IRNA. But the city's police commander had told the semiofficial Fars news agency earlier that the explosion was caused by a bomb.
The blast occurred about 9 p.m. in the Shohada religious center during a weekly address given by a popular cleric. The meetings are usually attended by thousands of people. Eyewitnesses reported the explosion took place in the men's part of the mosque.
The cleric, Mohammad Enjavinejad, was apparently not seriously hurt. The young and well-liked clergyman has a growing following in several Iranian cities, using a blog and slang to appeal to youths.
The cleric's group is called Rahpouyan Vesal, meaning "Followers of the Road to Join Up With God." According to its Web site, the group has more than 27,000 members and receives some funding from the Iran government. It was founded in 1997 and calls itself a "cultural" group. Rahpouyan Vesal has branches across Iran. The group's meetings often focus on the danger of "atheistic" organizations. It has been sharply critical of followers of the Wahhabi branch of Sunni Islam, which originates in Saudi Arabia. Commentators on the Web site blamed Wahhabis for the attack.
The Iranian government has held Wahhabi insurgents responsible for two bomb attacks in the Sunni Arab region of Iran, Khuzestan, which borders Iraq. They are not active in Shiraz, and no bombings of this magnitude have taken place in that city since the aftermath of the 1979 revolution.
Members of the Bahai religion, another group that Rahpouyan Vesal opposes, face arrest and other forms of persecution in Iran. Followers of Bahaism, which was founded in 19th-century Persia and emphasizes religious unity and racial equality, are not allowed to practice their religion or study at universities.
The Iranian government regards the Bahai faith as heretical. In 2006, a group of Bahais was arrested in Shiraz for carrying out "anti-regime propaganda." Three of those arrested received four-year jail sentences; the others were given suspended sentences.
Several anti-Bahai statements can be found on the Rahpouyan Web site. The faith is called "misleading" and a "secret political organization" because of ties to Israel, where its headquarters is.
Bomb explosions are uncommon in Iran, but sensitive border areas have been targeted during recent attacks that have claimed the lives of civilians and soldiers. Iran has blamed Britain and the United States.
In February 2007, a car loaded with explosives blew up near a bus carrying members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, killing 11 of the troops and wounding more than 30 in southeastern Iran. A Sunni militant group that has been blamed for past attacks on Iranian troops claimed responsibility.
Some believe that the group, known as Jundallah, is linked to al-Qaeda. Jundallah, or God's Brigade, has been waging a low-level insurgency in southeastern Iran. According to the Iranian government, Jundallah receives military assistance from the United States and is inspired by Wahhabism.