Iran opposition says it foils Baghdad mortar attack by Iranian regime

Agence France Presse

March 28, 2000

BAGHDAD, March 28 - Iran's armed opposition, the People's Mujahedeen, said Tuesday it had foiled a mortar attack on their Baghdad headquarters by "Iranian agents."

"One of our members prevented at 7.00 a.m. (0400 GMT) a mortar attack by agents of the Iranian regime aimed at our headquarters in Baghdad," Mujahedeen spokesman Farid Soulaimani told AFP.

"When the terrorists saw members of our group, they took off, abandoning the launcher for a 60-mm mortar and some ammunition," he said.

Soulaimani also said "agents of the Iranian regime opened fire at 5.00 p.m. (1400 GMT) on a Mujahedeen car near the town of Al-Sawira," some 45 kilometres (30 miles) south of Baghdad.

"There was an exchange of fire between the Mujahedeen and the terrorists who fled the scene, but with no casualties," he said.

Six mortar shells exploded on March 22 in a Baghdad neighbourhood housing many Palestinian refugees, killing two Iraqis and two Palestinians, and injuring 38.

The Iraqi authorities blamed Tehran for "this criminal operation," but Iran categorically denied involvement.

On Saturday, the Iraqi military said it had shot down an Iranian pilotless plane near the border, the second time in 11 days, amid claims by the Mujahedeen that Tehran was stepping up reconnaissance flights to attack its bases inside Iraq.

The Mujahadeen claimed responsibility for a March 13 mortar attack which left four people injured and caused major damage around a housing estate close to the headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards.

The Mujahedeen, which maintains a large guerrilla force in Iraq as well as offices in Europe and North America, is reviled by the Tehran regime

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