News

Iran has executed at least 13 members of a Sunni rebel group blamed for a spate of attacks in the south-east of the country, state media says. There are conflicting reports as to whether one of the leaders of the Jundollah (God's Soldiers) group has also been hanged. Tehran blames the group for a series of attacks including the bombing of a mosque in May which killed 25 people. Amnesty International had appealed for a stay of execution. It said that the convicts had not received a fair trial. The semi-official Fars news agency reported on Monday that the 14 would be executed in public in the city of Zahedan, in the south-eastern Sistan-Baluchestan province. It said those to be hanged included Abdolhamid Rigi - the brother of the group's leader Abdolmalek Rigi - who it described as Jundollah's second-in-command. Ebrahim Hamidi, who heads the judiciary in the province, told the official IRNA news agency on Tuesday that 13 of the group had been hanged inside a jail. "After last minute consultations, the executions were carried out in a prison," Mr Hamidi is quoted as saying. Abdolhamid Rigi was not among those hanged on Tuesday but would be executed later this week, the report said. However, Iran state radio reported on Tuesday that all 14 of the group had been executed.