Iran says two rebels die in clashes with police

TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) -- Two Iraq-based Iranian rebels who planned to carry out bombings died Wednesday after clashes with police in southern Iran, the official news agency IRNA reported.

It said one of the two members of the Mujahideen Khalq armed opposition group was killed after a car they were traveling in overturned during a police chase.

A second man committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide pill, while a third passenger, a woman, was arrested, the agency said.

It said 15 passersby were injured when the three hurled grenades from the car during the chase 95 miles north of the city of Shiraz. Police seized weapons, including mortar bombs and a launcher from the car, the agency added.

In a statement sent to Reuters in Dubai, Mujahideen Khalq confirmed the deaths of its two members but it said 35 police and security agents had been killed or injured in clashes which lasted several hours.

Mujahideen, Iran's main armed opposition group, has launched mortar attacks in the capital Tehran and other cities and claimed responsibility for assassinations of senior officials.

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