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Iran accuses US, Britain over ethnic clashes
08/14/05 "IranMania" -- -- London - Iran on Sunday accused Britain and the United States of instigating recent ethnic clashes involving the country's Kurdish and Arab minorities.
"We have information that the United States is interfering in the northwest of Iran. That is unacceptable and we are going to protest," said Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi, according to AFP.
"According to our reports the English have interfered in the troubles in Khuzestan and some (agitators) have been trained in bases under British control in Iraq," he added.
The province of Khuzestan, where there is a large ethnic Arab community, and the Kurdish areas of northwestern Iran near the Iraqi and Turkish borders have been rocked by violence in recent months that has left a number of people dead.
Iran's claims came as it is locked in a standoff with the international community over its nuclear activities, which arch-enemy the United States claims is a cover for efforts to build an atomic bomb.
Britain is one of the so-called EU-3 nations also including France and Germany which has been negotiating with Iran on the nuclear file since November.
According to offical figures, 12 people have died in the Kurdish areas, where fighting was sparked in July when a young Kurdish man wanted by police was shot and killed during his arrest in the Kurdish stronghold of Mahabad.
Independent groups say the death toll is higher, and that rioting and unrest spread to several villages in the area.
The restive Arab majority city of Ahvaz saw new clashes at the end of July, as riots were reportedly sparked by con men who had taken advance payments on cheap cars and appliances and then failed to come up with the goods.
The capital of the oil-rich Khuzestan province near the Iraqi border was also struck on June 12 by four bomb attacks that killed between six and eight people.
Kurds make up about 7% of Iran's population, while Arabs are an even smaller minority at about 3%.
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