Alamgir

None. The Iranian authorities have been treating this very cautiously. At first it seemed obvious to me that they tried to cover up it was a terrorist attack the day it happened by playing it down as an 'accident'. Such a successful bomb attack like this in a very secure city like Shiraz was sure to be a huge morale booster for anti-Iran groups. So it appears to me that the authorities deliberately down-played the incident so that it would not be used as a source of encouragement or inspiration for other attacks elsewhere, and by different terrorists. Now one month later all the steam and momentum this attack could have provided has worn out and they've come clean it was in fact, not an accident, but a deliberate bombing.

As for the 'monarchist' story - I dont buy it. Either the authorities dont know who carried out the attack or they are still concealing it from the public. Id call it a psychological tactic (defence even) if the latter is true.

In regards to CIA backing of anti-Iranian groups. Its no coincidence that since the American intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq, two armed and anti-Iranian groups have appeared on Iran's periphery. First came the Kurdish group PJAK in 2005, based in Iraqi Kurdestan. Then came the Baluchi group Jundallah in 2006 - claimed to operate out of Pakistani Baluchestan, and possibly Afghanistan's Nimruz province (which has a large Baluchi population). Both groups, separated by thousands of miles, remarkably, were floated within less than a year of eachother. Both groups, remarkably (or is that coincidently?) toe the same lines as eachother (not separatism, but "federalism") and both groups are well armed and equipped to fight (advanced weapons and explosives know-how dont just drop from the sky).

Its no coincidence that these two anti-Iran proxy groups sprung up at relatively the same time and are based in close proximity to where US forces are staged.

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