Suicide bomber targets top Iran commanders

A Suicide bomber killed five senior commanders of the elite Revolutionary Guard and at least 26 others in an area of southeastern Iran...

A Suicide bomber killed five senior commanders of the elite Revolutionary Guard and at least 26 others in an area of southeastern Iran that has been at the center of a simmering Sunni insurgency,state media reported. The official IRNA news agency said the dead included the deputy commander of the Guards ground force,Gen. Noor Ali Shooshtari,as well as a chief provincial Guard commander for the area,Rajab Ali Mohammadzadeh.

The other dead were Guard members or local tribal leaders. More than two dozen others were wounded. The commanders were on their way to a meeting with local tribal leaders in the Pishin district near Irans border with Pakistan when an attacker with explosives around his waist blew himself up. The explosion occurred at the entrance of a sports complex where the meeting was to be held.

Top provincial prosecutor Mohammad Marzieh was quoted as saying that a militant group from Irans Sunni Muslim minority called Jundallah,or Soldiers of God,claimed responsibility. The group accuses Irans Shia-dominated government of persecution and has carried out attacks against the Revolutionary Guard and Shiite targets in the southeast.

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The Revolutionary Guard blamed Sundays attack on what it called the global arrogance, a reference to the United States. The global arrogance,with the provocation of its local mercenaries,targeted the meeting of the Guard with local tribal leaders, said a Guard statement read out on state TV. Iranian officials have often raised concerns that Washington might try to incite members of Irans many ethnic and religious minorities against the Shiite-led government.

The commanders targeted were heading to a meeting with tribal leaders to promote unity between the Shia and Sunni Muslim communities.

Attackers came across from Pakistan,suspects Iran

TEHRAN: Irans Foreign Ministry summoned a senior Pakistani diplomat in Tehran following Sundays deadly attack on the Revolutionary Guards in a volatile southeastern area close to Pakistan,state television reported. Irans Foreign Ministry says there is evidence the perpetrators of this attack came to Iran from Pakistan,Press TV reported. The Pakistani official assured Tehran that his country would take all measures to secure its border with Iran. Iran has in the past accused Pakistan of hosting members of the Sunni insurgent Jundollah group,Press TV said. Iranian state media say Jundollah claimed responsibility for Sundays bombing. Reuters

US condemns attack,denies involvement

WASHINGTON: The US on Sunday condemned the suicide attack in Iran and refuted allegations of any American involvement in the terror strike. We condemn this act of terrorism and mourn the loss of innocent lives, State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly said in a brief statement. Reports of alleged US involvement are completely false. The US reaction came hours after Irans parliament speaker Ali Larijani accused Washington as having a hand in the suicide attack in Sistan-Baluchistan province,bordering Pakistan,while the Guards accused Western powers of complicity. PTI

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