Car bomb kills 3 in Chabahar

TEHRAN: A suicide car bomber attacked a police headquarters in the southeastern Iranian port city of Chabahar yesterday, killing at least three people and wounding several others, state TV reported.

State television broke into its regular broadcast to report the attack, as such assaults are rare in the Islamic Republic.

Rahmdel Bameri, a provincial official, said that a suicide attacker driving a vehicle loaded with explosives drove up to the police headquarters. He said police officers blocked the vehicle and started firing at the driver, who then detonated his explosives.

State authorities did not identify who was behind the attack. No militant group immediately took responsibility for the attack.

State TV also aired footage of smoke rising over the city.

Chabahar, near Iran’s border with Pakistan on the Sea of Oman, is home to a new, recently-built port and is an economic free zone for the country.

The attack comes as Iran’s economy reels in the wake of the US reimposing sanctions lifted by Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. While Iran still complies with the accord, President Donald Trump withdrew America over the deal in part due to Tehran’s ballistic missile programme, its “malign behaviour” in the Middle East and its support of militant groups like Hezbollah.

While rare, Iran has been targeted in recent years by militants.

In September, gunmen disguised as soldiers opened fire on a military parade in Ahvaz, killing dozens. Arab separatists and the Islamic State group both claimed the assault.

In June 2017, a coordinated assault on the parliament and the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, killed 18 people and wounded more than 50.