WORLD> Middle East
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WORLD> Middle East
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Iran bombing kills 5 Revolutionary Guard leaders
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-19 09:21 Iran also has accused Jundallah of receiving support from al-Qaida and the Taliban, though some analysts who have studied the group dispute such a link.
In an attempt to boost security in the region, Iran in April put the Revolutionary Guard directly in control of the Sistan-Baluchistan Province in Iran's southeastern corner. The 120,000-strong Guard also controls Iran's missile program, guards its nuclear facilities and has its own ground, naval and air units. The Revolutionary Guard led the blanket crackdown on dissident after Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in June. But the attack Sunday appeared to have no link to the political showdowns. State television accused Britain of supporting Jundallah, without providing any evidence. The Revolutionary Guard blamed the attack on what it called the "global arrogance," a reference to the United States. On the eve of talks about Tehran's nuclear program, Washington was quick to react. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the United States condemned what he called an "act of terrorism." Reports of alleged US involvement are "completely false," he said. Iran's parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, told lawmakers that the bombing was aimed at further destabilizing the uneasy border region with Pakistan and Afghanistan. "The intention of the terrorists was definitely to disrupt security in Sistan-Baluchistan Province," Larijani said. Iranian officials summoned Pakistan's charge d'affairs in Tehran to lodge allegations that "terrorists" use bases in Pakistan to carry out attacks against Iran, IRNA reported. In Quetta, Pakistan, police official Akbar Sanjrani said Iran had closed at least one border crossing. He said Iranian authorities did not give a reason for blocking the route, but Sanjrani speculated it was related to the bombing. Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman, Abdul Basit, also rejected Iranian claims that Jundallah's leader is in Pakistan. "We are struggling to eradicate the menace of terrorism," Basit told Geo TV. The group also has claimed responsibility for a February 2007 car bombing that killed 11 members of the Revolutionary Guard near Zahedan. Despite Iran's claims of an al-Qaida link, Chris Zambelis, a Washington-based risk management consultant who has studied Jundallah, said in a recent article that there is no evidence al-Qaida is supporting the group. He does note, however, that the group has begun to use the kinds of suicide bombings associated with the global terror network. "Jundallah's contacts with the Taliban are most likely based on jointly profiting from the illicit trade and smuggling as opposed to ideology," Zambelis wrote in the July issue of West Point's CTC Sentinel.
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