Radio: Iran arrests leader of militant Sunni group Jundallah

Radio: Iran arrests Sunni militant group leader

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s state radio says its security forces have arrested a leader of an armed Sunni opposition group waging a low-level insurgency in southeastern Iran.

The broadcast says Iranian security forces have arrested Abdulmalik Rigi, leader of the Jundallah terrorist group which has claimed responsibility for several bombing attacks inside Iran that left dozens dead in recent years. The radio report Tuesday did not provide any further details.

Jundallah, which Iran suspects of having links with the al-Qaida terror group, gained notice six years ago with sporadic attacks and kidnappings, claiming that the minority Sunni tribes in southeastern Iran suffer at the hands of Iran’s Shiite leadership.

Rigi had claimed in interviews in the past that the group does not seek to break away from Iran but that violence is necessary to draw attention to discrimination.

Iran has accused the U.S. and Britain of aiding the Sunni militant group with the aim of weakening the Iranian government. Both Washington and London have denied the charges.