Tehran: A man set off an explosive device near a provincial governor's office in northeastern Iran on Saturday night, fatally wounding himself but causing no other damage, an Iranian news agency reported.
The incident, four days after a remote-controlled bomb killed a university scientist in Tehran, occurred in Mashhad, one of the Islamic Republic's largest cities, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
The explosive device went off when security personnel near the office of the governor of Khorasan Razavi province approached the man after he had raised their suspicions.
"The person carrying the device was critically wounded and taken to hospital. Police are investigating the case," Fars said, giving no other detail.
The man later died from his wounds, Fars said.
Such incidents are relatively rare in Iran, which borders volatile Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.
On Tuesday, Iranian officials blamed the United States and Israel for a bombing attack that killed Tehran University professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi in the capital. The United States dismissed the allegation of US involvement as absurd.
An opposition website said Ali-Mohammadi had been a supporter of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, January 17, 2010, 14:28