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Seven hurt by bombs in Iranian Kurd city

TEHRAN, May 8, 2006 (AFP) - Two small bombs exploded in government offices in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah on Monday, wounding seven people, official media reported.

The first bomb went off at around 1:50 pm (10:20 GMT) in the Kermanshah governor's office. A second bomb went off minutes later in another government office for commercial affairs.

Kermanshah is dominated by Iran's Kurdish minority, but it was not clear if the blasts had any connection to ethnic-related violence.

The attacks come amid rising tensions between Iraqi Kurds and Iran and Turkey, both of which have Kurdish minorities and have been battling separatist militants from the PKK and its offshoots.

For around a year, Iran has been battling infiltrations by Pejak, a Kurdish group linked to the PKK. On Sunday, Baghdad accused Iranian forces of entering five kilometers (three miles) into Iraq and shelling PKK positions.

Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan province, situated further to the south, has also been hit by a wave of bombings linked to ethnic Arab separatists.

Officials in Tehran have blamed the United States and Britain for the border area unrest.