Bahai Mosque BAB in Shiraz, Iran

A bomb exploded in a mosque in the southern Iranian city Shiraz on Saturday, killing at least nine people and wounding more than 100, Iranian media reported.

Ambulances rushed to the scene of the blast in a crowded district of the city, state television said.

"At least nine people were killed and 105 injured in the blast," the semi-official Fars news agency quoting a local hospital official as saying.

The death toll was expected to rise because some of the wounded were in critical condition, the official said.

State television urged people in Shiraz to donate blood for the wounded and said that all nurses in the city had been called to report for work.

Ambulances rushed to the scene of the blast in a crowdeddistrict in the city of Shiraz, state television said.

"The death toll has reached eight and about 66 injured," thesemi-official Fars news agency said, quoting a police official,identified only as General Zamani.

The agency, quoting an unnamed official, said the death tollwas expected to rise because some of the wounded were in acritical condition.

The official IRNA news agency said the bomb exploded duringan address by a cleric in the Shohada mosque in Shiraz.

Local officials were not immediately available for commenton the blast.

No one has claimed the responsibility for the blast but thedeputy governor of the province Mohammad Reza Hadaegh told statetelevision the cause of the blast was under investigation.