TEHRAN, May 30 Iran on Saturday hanged three men in public accused of involvement in the bombing of a mosque that killed 25 people, an official said, branding them “terrorists” and “enemies of God.”

The executions were carried out near the mosque in southeastern Iran which was devastated by Thursday's bombing, said Hojatoeslam Ebrahim Hamidi, Justice Chief of Sistan-Baluchestan province.

At least 125 people were also wounded in the powerful blast caused by a suicide bomber at the Amir al-Momenin mosque in the Sistan-Baluchestan provincial capital Zahedan during evening prayers.

“The terrorists — Haji Noti Zehi, Gholam Rasoul Shahi Zehi and Zabihollah Naroui — were hanged at 6am (0130 GMT) near the Amir al-Momenin mosque in public,” Mr Hamidi told the official Irna news agency.

“They confessed to illegally bringing explosives into Iran and giving them to the main person behind the bombing,” he added.

“They were convicted of being “mohareb” (enemies of God) and 'corrupt on the earth' and acting against national security,” Mr Hamidi said. He said the trio had been arrested before Thursday's bombing but had confessed that they had provided the explosives for the mosque bombing.

“They were tried and they had court-appointed legal representation,” he said.

The three men, he added, had also been charged with “direct involvement” in the bombing of a Revolutionary Guards bus in 2007 in which 13 people were killed, the bombing of Al Ghadir mosque in Zahedan in February this year which caused no casualties and “some other bombings.”

According to Al-Arabiya television channel, the Jundullah (Soldiers of God) group said it was behind the mosque attack. Sistan-Baluchestan has for several years been the scene of a deadly insurgency by Jundullah, a group of rebels headed by Abdolmalek Rigi.

The province lies on a major narcotics-smuggling route from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Jalal Sayah, the province's deputy governor said on Friday that the three men arrested over the incident were “hired by America and the agents of the arrogance.”

Officials usually use the term “global arrogance” to refer to the United States. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly denied that Washington was behind the attack, saying the US did “not sponsor any form of terrorism in Iran.”

The chief of the Iranian armed forces, General Hassan Firouzabadi, in comments carried on Saturday on the state television website, accused Britain and “Zionists” of involvement in the bombing.

“We should not forget the role and the plot of the British who in the past 200 years tried to divide Sunnis and Shias,” the general said.

State-run television, meanwhile, showed footage of funeral ceremonies on Saturday for those who died in the bombing.

Thousands of women and men clad in black gathered in front of the Amir al-Momenin mosque hours after the hangings carrying coffins.—AFP