TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A bomb exploded in a government building in Tehran today, police said. Iranian television said two people died and two others were injured.
An Iranian opposition group in exile claimed responsibility in a statement faxed to The Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt. But official news reports said the explosion in the Iranian capital was an accident.
The Mujahedeen Khalq, the largest Iranian opposition group, said it set off a bomb at the Revolutionary Prosecutor’s office, killing scores of people and demolishing the building. A check of the building indicated there was no visible structural damage outside.
The prosecutor’s office apprehends and tries opponents of the 1979 Islamic revolution that installed Islamic rule in Iran.
A police official at the scene, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the explosion was caused by a bomb placed in a briefcase. He did not elaborate.
The official Islamic Republic News Agency said the blast was caused by explosives, and indicated the material was being brought to the court as evidence when it went off accidentally.
The differing accounts could not be immediately reconciled.