The Iranian armed opposition People's Mujahadeen claimed Sunday mortar attacks in Tehran overnight, saying they had hit two Revolutionary Guards' headquarters, killing or wounding a number of troops.
In statements faxed to AFP in Nicosia, the Mujahadeen said the targets were the headquarters of the commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards, General Rahim Safavi, and of the Tehran commander, Brigadier General Mohammad-Ali Aaziz Jaafari.
The attacks were mounted at 9:00 p.m. (1730 GMT) and 9.30 p.m. (1800 GMT) Saturday respectively, the organisation said.
Iran's official IRNA news agency said Sunday that mortar bombs hit the areas surrounding Park-e-Melat (Melat Park) and the Enqelab sports complex at 9.00 p.m. with no loss of life.
A Mujahadeen spokesman told AFP the mortars had been captured from the Iranian armed forces.
The Revolutionary Guards are one of the pillars of the Islamic regime, an elite and well-armed formation answerable only to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran's intelligence ministry also reported the arrest of a "terrorist group" belonging to the People's Mujahedeen.
It did not say how many people were involved, but said they had entered the country with the intention of carrying out terrorist acts.
The Mujahadeen spokesman said he was unaware of the report, but said it had no connection with the operation in Tehran.
The Mujahadeen statements said Saturday's operations were named after the towns of Ajabshir and Behshahr, scenes of recent unrest.
Clashes between the Mujahedeen and the Iranian armed forces have been on the increase for a year.
Iran says the end of Mujahedeen operations from Iraqi territory is one of the conditions for the normalisation of relations between Iran and Iraq, who fought a war from 1980 to 1988.
The Mujahedeen fired five mortar bombs August 28 on a military barracks that the Iranian authorities said had been abandoned, in the east of Tehran.
On July 15, the intelligence ministry itself was the target of a mortar attack by the Mujahedeen.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
