Iran accuses Britain of sponsoring terrorism

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Iran has accused Britain of sponsoring terrorism after arresting four men with alleged links to a British-based guerrilla leader on suspicion of carrying out a campaign of assassination in the north of the country.

The Iranian authorities said yesterday the four arrested men belonged to Komala, a Kurdish group based in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The four men had allegedly confessed to being paid to carry out five killings in the past two years, and to have received payments from a British-based leader.

Komala could refer to any one of a number of groups. The mainstream, left-of-centre Komala party has claimed to be non-violent, but the Kurdish opposition groups are fractious.

The four men, identified as Majid Bakhtiar, Hajeer Ebrahimi, Loqman Moradi and Zanyar Moradi, were said to have been promised $20,000 (£12,300), but to have only received $8,000 (£5,000).

"Iran's Intelligence Ministry said Britain has not only carried out secret espionage activities in the country, but also funded and supported certain terrorist groups against the Islamic Republic," state television said.

There have been attacks carried out in Kurdish cities in Iran in the past, including the bombing of a military parade in the Kurdish-majority city of Mahabad in September which killed 11 people.

But the Foreign Office denied any British involvement.

"There is a long history of baseless Iranian allegations against the UK. This is just the latest," a spokesman said.

"The UK does not support or encourage terrorist activity in Iran, or anywhere else in the world, and this claim will be seen as what it is: another in a long line of slurs against the United Kingdom from the government of Iran."

The accusations may be a form of retaliation over a speech last week by the head of MI6, Sir John Sawers, in which he said intelligence work directed against Iran had been successful in revealing details of its nuclear programme.

During the day, the British embassy in Tehran was pelted with eggs and tomatoes by a crowd shouting "Death to America" and "Death to Britain". The protest was timed to coincide with another demonstration celebrating the anniversary of the seizure of the American embassy in 1979.