A top Iranian official has accused the US of being behind an attack on a Shia mosque which killed 23 people.
Iran's Fars news agency reported that deputy provincial governor of Sistan-Baluchistan province Jalal Sayah said that three people had been arrested.
‘According to the information obtained they were hired by America and the agents of the arrogance,' Jalal Sayah said.
The suicide attack during yesterday's evening prayers at the Amir al-Momenin mosque in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan, also left 125 injured.
Fars said the mosque was a gathering place for revolutionary Shias.
Yesterday was a public holiday in Iran to mourn the death of Fatima Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Mohammed.
The explosion comes just weeks ahead of Iran's 12 June presidential election.
Sistan-Baluchestan province bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan has a large ethnic Sunni Baluch minority.
In recent years, it has been the scene of an insurgency by Sunni rebels of the Jundullah (Soldiers of God) group which is strongly opposed to predominantly Shia country's government.
The province also lies on a major narcotics-smuggling route from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Iran has in the past blamed US and British agents based in neighbouring Iraq and Afghanistan for launching attacks on border provinces with significant ethnic minority populations.
