Mortar rounds hit eastern Tehran, none said hurt
TEHRAN, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Five mortar rounds struck a former army base
in eastern Tehran early on Monday, but there were no casualties or damage,
the official IRNA news agency said.
It said the rounds landed harmlessly in an open expanse of the former
base, in Heshmatieh, which was used to house Iraqi POWs.
A spokesman for the Iraq-based Mujahideen Khalq movement told Reuters
in Dubai by telephone that his movemment was responsible for the attack,
which was carried out at 6:00 a.m. (0130 GMT).
``There have been reports of casualties among the senior officers who
work in this compound and ambulances have been seen going into the compound
and going out,'' the spokesman said.
He said the attack was in response to what he called a government crackdown
on residents of the city of Khorramabad in western Iran following days
of protests.
The city has been the scene of clashes between reformist students and
hardline vigilantes.
Three Iranian soldiers were killed in a border area by the rebels, state
radio said on Sunday. It said dozens of Mujahideen fighters were killed
or wounded and many weapons seized in weekend skirmishes.
The Mujahideen Khalq said at the weekend in a statement faxed to Reuters
in Dubai that its forces had clashed with Iranian security units which
had crossed the border in pursuit of the rebels.
The opposition group said it had pounded Iranian forces with ``more
than 1,000 rounds of mortar and rockets,'' leaving ``hundreds'' dead or
wounded.
The English-language Tehran Times, which has good security sources,
said the Mujahideen had attacked three Iranian border towns with mortars.
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