The suicide bomber attacked in the south-eastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan (File)

Officials accuse West of involvement in "terrorist" attack

Sunni rebel group claim Iran guards attack: TV

An Iranian prosecutor said on Sunday a Sunni rebel group has claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack on the elite Revolutionary Guards, which killed at least 29 people on Sunday as officials accused the west of "direct involvement."

"So far no one has been arrested, but terrorist Malek Rigi has accepted the responsibility for this terrorist attack," Mohammad Marziah, prosecutor of Zahedan, the capital of the Sistan-Baluchestan province where the attack took place, was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.

Meanwhile state television quoted sources as saying Britain was directly involved the "terrorist" attack in which killed six guards' commanders and wounded at least 40 in the most severe attack on the Revolutionary Guards in recent years.

The strike took place when officers from the Guards were preparing to stage a meeting between local leaders of Shiite and Sunni communities.

Some local tribal heads and several senior officers of the Guards were among the slain, the official IRNA news agency said.

State television also suggested that a Sunni rebel group called Jundollah (God's soldiers) -- linked by some analysts to the Taliban in neighboring 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.

Citing authorities and experts, a presenter of English-language Press TV said "the finger of accusation is directly pointed at the Jundollah group," referring to ethnic Baluch Sunni insurgents who have been blamed for previous attacks in the region.

The Revolutionary Guards blamed "foreign elements" linked to the United States for the killings, which underlined deepening instability in Iran's southeast bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan.

But the U.S. denied the reports as "completely false" and condemned the attacks.

Iran has previously accused shadowy Sunni group Jundallah (Soldiers of God) of launching regular attacks in the province, which borders both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Sistan-Baluchestan is home to a sizeable Baluch minority which adheres to Sunni Islam. Jundallah is strongly opposed to the government of predominantly Shiite Iran.

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Alarabiya.net