Sunni Group strikes Iran's Revolutionary Guard, killing dozens.
Kayhan, Islamic
Republic of Iran
Terror Attack on
Revolutionary Guard 'Backed By U.S. and Britain'
Are the United States and Britain behind a terrorist attack Sunday that killed some of Iran's top military commanders? This news item from Iran's state-controlled Kayhan newspaper quotes Majlis Speaker Ali Larjani as saying, "Mr. Obama has said he
will extend his hand toward Iran, but with this terrorist action he has burned
his hand."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Secretary of State Clinton in Moscow, October 13. It seems that the Russians aren't yet on board for increased sanctions on Tehran.
TEHRAN: A terrorist blew
himself up at a meeting of tribal elders in southeastern Iran Sunday, martyring
at least 31 people, including top commanders. The attack took place in the city
of Pisheen near the border with Pakistan in Sistan and Baluchestan
Province, local news agencies said.
Iranian officials said that
the U.S. and Britain were involved.
"Based on the latest
information ... between 31 to 35 people [now 42], including military officers, tribal
leaders and local citizens, have been martyred in the attack," the chief
prosecutor in Sistan and Baluchestan Province's capital, Zahedan, Muhammad
Marziah, is quoted as saying by ISNA News Agency.
Marziah said Abdolmalek Rigi,
leader of the Jundallah terrorist
group [a Sunni group fighting for an independent Baluchestan], claimed responsibility for the
attack. "So far there have been no arrests, but terrorist Malek Rigi has accepted
responsibility for this attack," Marziah said.
The attack occurred at about 8:00am
in front of a local gymnasium in Pisheen.
The Fars News Agency
said that the bomber struck while Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. officers
were meeting local Shiite and Sunni leaders. Local tribal chiefs were among the
martyred, media reports said. The official IRNA News Agency said that
the bomber, "wearing an explosive vest, blew himself up at the meeting."
Fars said, "General Nur-Ali Shushtari, deputy
commander of IRGC ground forces, General Muhammad-Zadeh, IRGC commander in
Sistan and Baluchestan Province, IRGC commander for the town of Iranshahr and commander
of the Amir al-Momenin unit, all died in this terrorist act." Three other
commanders from the adjacent province of Kerman were also martyred, according
to Fars.
"General Shushtari along
with a number of other IRGC commanders, had gone there to attend a conference,"
English-language Press TV quoted a man it identified as Morteza Etasi as
saying. "But before going there, there were some tribal people busy making
baskets. They went over to talk to them and that's when the attack occurred,"
he said.
Several top commanders in Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard
Majlis speaker Ali Larijani
confirmed the martyrdom in an announcement that was broadcast on television. "The
goal of the terrorists is to disturb the security of Sistan and Baluchestan Province.
It shows that they don't want economic progress in the region. But certainly,
the Guard will act with additional force to establish security in the region."
In a separate statement later,
he said that the United States was implicated in the deadly attack. "We
consider the recent terrorist attack to be the result of U.S. action. This is a
sign of American animosity toward our country," Larijani said.
"Mr. Obama
has said he will extend his hand toward Iran, but with this terrorist action he
has burned his hand," he said referring to U.S. President Barack Obama's
repeated diplomatic overtures to Tehran.
The Revolutionary Guard
command also said that foreign powers were behind the attack. "The world
arrogance, by provoking its lackeys and mercenaries in the region, carried out
a terrorist attack on a public meeting between the Guard and tribes people,"
the Guard said in a statement.
Fars quoted the statement as saying that the headquarters
of the armed forces blamed the bombing on "terrorists" backed by "the
Great Satan America and its ally Britain. … In the not-to-distant future we (Iran)
will take our revenge ... and Baluchis will clear this region from terrorists
and criminals."
Aladdin Borujerdi, a senior member
of the Majlis and head of its Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy,
also pointed a finger at Washington. "The enemies of the Islamic Revolution,
especially the United States, are the greatest supporters of terrorist networks
like Jundallah," he is quoted as saying by Mehr.
Iranian officials have said
before that Britain and the United States support Jundallah terrorists who operate
in the sensitive border areas, especially Sistan and Baluchestan Province.
According to U.S.-based ABC
News, U.S. officials advised Jundallah to “stage deadly guerrilla raids
inside the Islamic Republic, kidnap Iranian officials and execute them on
camera, all as part of a systematic objective to overthrow the Iranian
government.” [This is an unconfirmed quote].
The U.S. and Britain, however,
sought to divert attention by condemning the bombing.
"We condemn this act of
terrorism and mourn the loss of innocent lives," State Department
Spokesman Ian Kelly said in a statement. "Reports of alleged U.S. involvement
are completely false," he said.
The British Foreign Office
didn't directly comment on the accusation but said in a statement that Britain "condemns
the terrorist attack in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan in Iran and the
sad loss of life which it caused. Terrorism is abhorrent wherever it occurs"
it said, expressing sympathy for the victims and their families.
The Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK) if Iraq strongly condemned the terrorist attack
and called for the punishment of those in charge of the terrorist action. "The
PUK strongly condemns any terrorist operation against the brotherly and
friendly country of Iran," Union spokesman Molla Bakhtiyar told Fars News
Agency. "Terrorist attacks harm regional security," Bakhtiyar
said. "Such actions would not render help to the settlement of problems or
the establishment of peace in the region."
On May 28, at least 25 people
were martyred when a mosque in Zahedan was attacked by a terrorist.
