18 Oct 2009 10:33:08 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Six Revolutionary Guards commanders killed

* About 20 die, 60 wounded at meeting of tribal chiefs

* Revolutionary Guards blame foreign elements linked to U.S.

* State TV says Sunni rebel group suspected

* Instability deepens in Pakistan, Afghan border area

(Updates death toll, adds background)

By Fredrik Dahl

TEHRAN, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed around 20 people on Sunday, including six senior Revolutionary Guards commanders, in an attack in Iran's turbulent southeast blamed on foreign-backed elements, Iranian media reported.

State media said a local rebel group was suspected of staging the attack, the worst on the elite Revolutionary Guards in recent years, which injured another 40 people at a meeting of tribal chiefs.

But the Guards themselves accused "foreign elements" linked to the United States of involvement and state television also pointed the finger at Britain, another traditional foe of Iran.

The bombing and allegations of foreign involvement are likely to raise tension between Tehran and the West, a day before nuclear talks in Vienna including Iranian, U.S., French and Russian officials.

State television suggested that a Sunni rebel group called Jundollah (God's soldiers) -- linked by some analysts to the Taliban in neighbouring Pakistan -- was the likely suspect for the attack.

"Attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body during gathering of tribal heads," state Press TV said in a headline, adding that civilians and tribal leaders were also among the victims.

The Revolutionary Guards blamed "foreign elements" linked to the United States, which Tehran accuses the United States of backing Jundollah to create instability in the country, a charge that Washington denies.

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Jeffrey Fleishman & Ramin Mostaghim | Cairo & Tehran | October 18

LATimes - In a brazen attack on Iran's military elite, a suicide bomber today killed five Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders and 26 others at a gathering of tribal leaders in a southeastern province near the Pakistan border that's known for drug running and religious extremism, according to the official Iranian news agency.

The assault was carried out by a lone man who reportedly disguised himself in tribal dress and detonated an explosives belt at a gymnasium in the city of Pisheen in the Sistan-Baluchistan province, a harsh land plagued by heroin smuggling and ethnic animosities. At least 28 people were wounded in the carnage, images of which were broadcast across a stunned nation.

Iran state-owned Press TV reported that a simultaneous second bombing targeted another group of Revolutionary Guard officers traveling in a convoy near Pisheen. There were no numbers on casualties, and the report could not be independently confirmed.

State media said the Sunni Muslim militant group Jundallah, or Soldiers of God, which operates along the Iran-Pakistan border, claimed responsibility for the attack. The organization, part of a regional Sunni insurgency in Shiite-dominated Iran, has for years killed and kidnapped Iranian soldiers and police officers.

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[Comment: Useful context in the piece, including information on who got slotted. ~ JPD]

“The absence of any US-Iran bilateral channel...may have the perverse effect of reinforcing Iranian interest in progressing in the nuclear realm so that the US will be forced to take it seriously and engage it directly." ~ Richard Haass

Informed Comment - ...

The Iranian state is aware of the unhappiness of the Baluch and was attempting to stage a reconciliation meeting with tribal leaders, perhaps influenced by the way the US military dealt with Dulaim tribal chieftains in al-Anbar, Iraq. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards, having come out on top in the recent political turmoil in Iran, spear-headed the reconciliation drive, and thus were targeted by Jundullah, who do not want reconciliation. Presumably they were tipped off by tribal allies in Sarbaz.

BBC -
Iran's president has accused Pakistani agents of involvement in a suicide bombing in south-east Iran targeting a group of elite Revolutionary Guards.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Pakistan to apprehend the attackers, who Iranian officials suggested had arrived from Pakistan.

A Pakistani spokesman condemned the attack, which has been blamed on the Sunni resistance group, Jundullah.

The foreign office spokesman, Abdul Basit, also dismissed Iranian claims that Jundullah's leader was in Pakistan.

_{I feel the American worker has been sacrificed to the capitalist idols in the ancient Mayan fashion. - Sue Lamb, NYT reader}

TEHRAN, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Monday a Sunni rebel group blamed for a deadly attack on the elite force was linked to U.S., British and Pakistani intelligence, an Iranian news agency reported.

Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari added: "Behind this scene are the American and British intelligence apparatus and there will have to be retaliatory measures to punish them."

TEHRAN, Oct 19 (Reuters) - An Iranian MP raised the prospect on Monday of a possible military cross-border operation into Pakistan against the "terrorist group" blamed for a deadly attack on the elite Revolutionary Guards.

Iran has in the past said members of the Sunni insurgent Jundollah (God's soldiers) group, which state media say claimed Sunday's suicide bombing in southeastern Iran, have been operating from inside Pakistani territory.

"There is unanimity about the Revolutionary Guards and the security forces engaging in operations in any place they would deem necessary," ISNA news agency quoted MP Payman Forouzesh as saying, appearing to refer to agreement on the issue among lawmakers.

"There is even unanimity that these operations (could) take place in Pakistan territory," he said. He is a representative from Sistan-Baluchestan province, where the attack took place.

* Guards head vows to "punish" U.S. and Britain
* Commanders, tribal leaders and civilians among 42 dead
* Russia offers Iran cooperation (Updates with threat to "retaliate" against U.S. and Britain)

By Fredrik Dahl and Hossein Jaseb

TEHRAN, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Monday vowed to "retaliate" against the United States and Britain after accusing them of backing the perpetrators of a suicide bombing that killed six Guards commanders.

Iranian media say the Sunni Muslim insurgent group Jundollah (God's soldiers) has claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing in Sistan-Baluchestan province, which killed 42 people in all.

The incident threatened to overshadow talks between Iran and global powers in Vienna on Monday intended to tackle a standoff about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Guards commander-in-chief Mohammad Ali Jafari said Iranian security officials had presented documents indicating "direct ties" from Jundollah to U.S., British and, "unfortunately", Pakistani intelligence organisations, the ISNA news agency said.

"Behind this scene are the American and British intelligence apparatus, and there will have to be retaliatory measures to punish them," Jafari was quoted as saying.

Jundollah, which has been blamed for many attacks since 2005 in the desert province bordering Pakistan, says it is fighting to end discrimination against Sunni Muslims by Iran's dominant Shi'ites. Its leader is Abdolmalek Rigi.

"This person himself and his plans are undoubtedly under the umbrella and the protection of these (U.S., British and Pakistani) organisations," Jafari said.

"TRAINED BY U.S. AND BRITAIN"

Iranian television quoted General Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Guards' ground forces, whose deputy was killed in the bombing, as saying:

"The base of the terrorists and rebels has not been in Iran. They are trained by America and Britain in some of the neighbouring countries."

The United States, Pakistan and Britain have all condemned the bombing, the bloodiest attack in Iran since the 1980-88 war with Iraq, and denied involvement.

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PRESS TV
Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:37:41 GMT

A former Central Intelligence Agency officer has confirmed US' relations with the terrorist group Jundullah, despite the CIA knowing that the group has close links with the al-Qaeda.

"American intelligence has also had contact with Jundullah. But that contact, as Iran almost certainly knows, was confined to intelligence-gathering on the country," Robert Baer, a former Middle East CIA field officer wrote on the Time.com, IRNA reported early on Saturday.

However, he noted that the US-Jundullah relationship "was never formalized, and contact was sporadic."

The news comes amid US denial of any involvement in a recent terrorist attack in Sistan-Baluchestan province in southeastern Iran, which Jundullah claimed responsibility for.

"I've been told that the Bush Administration at one point considered Jundullah as a piece in a covert-action campaign against Iran, but the idea was quickly dropped because Jundullah was judged uncontrollable and too close to al-Qaeda. There was no way to be certain that Jundullah would not throw the bombs we paid for back at us," said the former CIA agent who is a columnist in the weekly, and very probably an advisor in the Middle East.

Baer also noted that Pakistan's intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has had relations with the Jundullah leader, Abdolmalek Rigi.

"Pakistani intelligence has indeed had contact with Jundullah over the years, but there's no good evidence that Pakistan created Jundullah from scratch. And there's certainly no evidence that Pakistan ordered the attack," Baer said in reference to the terrorist attack that took place in Iran on Sunday, October 18, which killed 42 people including the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps commanders.

"In fact, Pakistani intelligence over the past few years has been arresting Jundullah members and turning them over to Iran," he claimed.

This is while earlier on Friday, Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi vowed to do everything in his power to hunt down the Jundullah terrorists and bring them to justice.

"This very incident unveiled the true nature of those who call themselves the pioneer in 'war on terrorism'," he said in reference to the United States.

A number of leading newspapers in the West, such as The Sunday Telegraph, have also declared Jundullah to be a CIA brainchild engineered to achieve the longstanding US goal of "regime change in Iran."

Iran's Interior Minister, Mustafa Mohammad Najjar, is currently in Islamabad to ask Pakistani officials to hand over Abdolmalek Rigi and assist Iran on cracking down on his terrorist group.

bbc

The "security officials" were detained a few miles within Pakistan's border

Pakistan authorities have released 11 Iranian "security officers" who were detained on its border, police say.

Earlier, local officials had said they were members of the elite Revolutionary Guards force, but later reports made no reference to this.

The Iranians were detained near Mashkel district, after shooting out the tyres of the smuggler's car, reports say.

Iranian state TV says some of the men were "border guards hunting smugglers who had accidently entered Pakistan."

A Pakistani security official said the Iranians were arrested about four miles (seven km) from the border with Iran.

Pakistan officials said the detainees had been travelling in two cars without travel documents.

"The guards have been handed over to the Iranian authorities because it's found that they crossed into Pakistan mistakenly," a spokesman for Pakistan's Frontier Corps paramilitary force was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

The arrests had come just over a week since a suicide bomb killed 42 people, among them six Revolutionary Guard commanders, in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province.

Iran said a Sunni militant group had launched the attack from Pakistan. Islamabad denied any involvement.