A suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shiite religious procession in the Iranian city of Chabahar yesterday, killing at least 39 people in an attack claimed by Sunni rebel group Jundallah.

A pathologist quoted by the official IRNA news agency said 38 bodies, among them women and children, had been brought to the mortuary from what is the deadliest attack against Shiite ceremonies.

A 39th casualty later succumbed to his wounds, the pathologist said.

The bomber struck in a central square where worshippers were taking part in a procession marking the eve of the last day of Ashura, Red Crescent official Mahmoud Mozafar told the ILNA news agency.

“An individual walked up to some Red Crescent ambulances and blew himself up,” he said.

The governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province, Ali Mohammad Azad, said: “Two terrorists were killed, one in the explosion and the second by police.”

The prefect of Chabahar, Ali Bateni, said a third “terrorist” was later arrested. An intelligence official said he was captured near the border while attempting to flee the country.

“There were two terrorists who were spotted before they carried out their attack but one of them managed to detonate his explosive vest,” Mr Bateni told IRNA.

“The ringleader of this terrorist action has been arrested.”

Ashura is one of the high points of the Shiite calendar when large crowds of worshippers gather in mosques across predominantly Shiite Iran.

But unlike most of the rest of the country, Chabahar’s province of Sistan-Baluchestan has a significant Sunni community and has seen persistent unrest in recent years by Jundallah (Soldiers of God) militants.

The group claimed the attack as revenge for the hanging of its leader Abdolmalek Rigi in June. It identified the two militants as Saiful Rahman Chabahari and Hessan Khashi.