5 Revolutionary Guard commanders killed by suicide bomber

[Force Lord]

And at least 26 more.

Iran bombing kills 5 Revolutionary Guard leaders

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI and BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writers Ali Akbar Dareini And Brian Murphy, Associated Press Writers – 43 mins ago

TEHRAN, Iran – A suicide bomber killed five senior commanders of the powerful Revolutionary Guard and at least 26 others Sunday near the Pakistani border in the heartland of a potentially escalating Sunni insurgency.

The attack — which also left dozens wounded — was the most high-profile strike against security forces in an outlaw region of armed tribal groups, drug smugglers and Sunni rebels known as Jundallah, or Soldiers of God.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised sharp retaliation. But a sweeping offensive by authorities is unlikely.

Iranian officials have been reluctant to open full-scale military operations in the southeastern border zone, fearing it could become a hotspot for sectarian violence with the potential to draw in al-Qaida and Sunni militants from nearby Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The region's top prosecutor, Mohammad Marzieh, was quoted by the semi-official ISNA news agency as saying Jundallah claimed responsibility for the blast in the Pishin district near the Pakistani border.

There was no immediate statement directly from the group, which has carried out sporadic kidnappings and attacks in recent years — including targeting the Revolutionary Guard — to press their claims of persecution in the Shiite government and officials.

In May, Jundallah said it sent a suicide bomber into a Shiite mosque in the southeastern city of Zahedan, killing 25 worshippers.

The latest attack, however, would mark the group's highest-level target. It also raised questions about how the attacker breached security around such a top delegation from the Revolutionary Guard — the country's strongest military force, which is directly linked to the ruling clerics under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The official Islamic Republic News Agency said the victims included the deputy commander of the Guard's ground forces, Gen. Noor Ali Shooshtari, as well as a chief provincial Guard commander, Rajab Ali Mohammadzadeh. The others killed were Guard members or tribal leaders, it said.

More than two dozen others were wounded, state radio reported.

The commanders were entering a sports complex to meet tribal leaders to discuss Sunni-Shiite cooperation when the attacker detonated a belt fitted with explosives, IRNA said.

Ahmadinejad — who counts on support from the Revolutionary Guard — vowed to strike back.

"The criminals will soon get the response for their inhuman crimes," IRNA quoted him as saying.

But controlling the scrubland and arid hills along the southeastern borders is a huge challenge that has been out of Iran's reach.

Drug traffickers ferry opium and other narcotics through the cross-border badlands — a key source of income for the Taliban in Afghanistan and the ethnic Baluchi tribes that straddle the three-nation region and include members of Jundallah. Iran has pleaded for more international help to cut off the drug routes and criminal gangs.

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.

"There is no evidence of outside help for Jundallah from wider militant networks," said Mustafa Alani, director of security and terrorism studies at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. "It's a homegrown group that moves across the borders within fellow Baluchi tribes. It is very hard to control the border."

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 U.S. 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.

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, 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.

___

Associated Press writer Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, contributed to this report. Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

This is the most high-profile terror attack against Iran in a while. Things in Sistan-Baluchistan are now going to get interesting.

[Yona]

Whoa, not so fast, they've opted for the "time honored" tradition when it comes to this stuff. They are now blaming it on the U.S. !

Iranian official blames deadly bombing on 'U.S. actions'

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- A man carrying explosives blew himself up as participants headed to a conference between Shiite and Sunni groups in southeastern Iran on Sunday, killing at least 29 people.
Iranian parliament Speaker Ali Larijani calls a suicide bombing "the result of the U.S. actions."

Iranian parliament Speaker Ali Larijani calls a suicide bombing "the result of the U.S. actions."

The blast in Sarbaz in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan wounded 28 others, the semiofficial Fars news agency said.

While no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, Iran pointed the finger at the United States without disclosing its reasons.

"We consider this recent terrorist act to be the result of the U.S. actions and this is a sign of their enmity," said parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.

A U.S. State Department spokesman said the accusation was "completely false."

"We condemn this act of terrorism and mourn the loss of innocent lives. Reports of alleged U.S. involvement are completely false," Ian Kelly told CNN.

The United Kingdom also condemned the attack.

"The British Government condemns the terrorist attack in the Province of Sistan and Baluchistan in Iran and the sad loss of life which it caused," the Foreign Office said in a statement. "Terrorism is abhorrent wherever it occurs. Our sympathies go to those who have been killed or injured in the attack and their families."

"We reject in the strongest terms any assertion that this was anything to do with the U.K.," the Foreign Office said later in response to reports Iran was accusing London of responsibility.

Five senior officers of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in the attack, Fars said. Among the officers was Nour-Ali Shoushtari, the deputy head of the Corps' ground forces, who was in the province to mediate between the two sides, Fars reported.

The province, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has a large minority presence of Baluchis, who are Sunni Muslims.

Other media outlets offered conflicting figures for the number of dead and wounded.

In the past, the predominantly Shiite central government in Tehran has accused the group Jundallah -- also known as the People's Resistance Movement of Iran -- of fomenting unrest in the province. Iran has alleged that the United States and Saudi Arabia are funding the group.

Jundallah says that it is fighting for the rights of Sunni Muslims in the country.

The attack was one of the largest in recent years on the Revolutionary Guard.

Around the same time, a second group of Corps commanders was caught in an explosion when their convoy came under attack at a road intersection between the towns of Sarbaz and Chabahar, state-run Press TV said.

The station did not say whether the second attack resulted in casualties.

The Guard was initially created to protect the leaders of the revolution. But over the years, it has broadened its scope. Today, it is directly under the control of the supreme leader and enforces the government's Islamic codes and morality

With an estimated 200,000-plus members, it is tasked with overseeing the country's crucial interests, including guarding its oil fields and missile arsenals.

I guess it's the easiest way to not have to deal with their own problems, blame it on someone else.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/10/ ... index.html

[Force Lord]

I guess it's the easiest way to not have to deal with their own problems, blame it on someone else.

The blame game may be easy, but it's getting a little old.

[MKSheppard]

I'm so brokenhearted over people who gave money to suicide bombers and killed our guys in Iraq getting blown up by a suicide bomber.

Didn't one of their few AWACS actually plow into the ground recently?

[Yona]

I'm so brokenhearted over people who gave money to suicide bombers and killed our guys in Iraq getting blown up by a suicide bomber.

Didn't one of their few AWACS actually plow into the ground recently?

Yup, they have to be out of repair parts by now.

They had a bunch of our stuff left over from the Shah that was unusable because of lack of maintenance and parts..

[Gramzamber]

So apparently they're blaming the U.S., the U.K. and Pakistan.
Gee is there anyone else they'd like to throw in? Maybe North Korea in case they feel left out again?

[Count Chocula]

Qui bono? With the Pashtun province troubles, I'm having a hard time figuring out how Pakistan would benefit from this attack. Unless, of course, the suicide bomber was Taliban/Al Quaeda. If I recall correctly, Sunni Muslims aren't the ones strapping bombs around their bellies. This appears to be an attempt by Paki or Afghani radicals to rile up Iran...hardly a good thing for the region.

I guess it's possible this was the doing of Iranian Khorastan Pashtuns, but it doesn't seem likely.

[Sidewinder]

I guess it's the easiest way to not have to deal with their own problems, blame it on someone else.

The blame game may be easy, but it's getting a little old.

The Iranian officials' thought process probably went like this:

Government bigwig #1: Al-Qaida is launching terror attacks against us! The nerve...! I say we hit them with everything we got! That'll teach them!

Bigwig #2: No! Then we'll be playing right into the Americans' hands- we'll become de facto American allies! No, I say we blame al-Qaida's attacks on the Americans. "The enemy of my enemy..." and all that.

[Darth Wong]

I'm so brokenhearted over people who gave money to suicide bombers and killed our guys in Iraq getting blown up by a suicide bomber.

The US government gave money to the insurgents who were killing your guys in Iraq too. I believe it was called "the surge"

[Master of Ossus]

The Iranian officials' thought process probably went like this:

Government bigwig #1: Al-Qaida is launching terror attacks against us! The nerve...! I say we hit them with everything we got! That'll teach them!

Bigwig #2: No! Then we'll be playing right into the Americans' hands- we'll become de facto American allies! No, I say we blame al-Qaida's attacks on the Americans. "The enemy of my enemy..." and all that.

Actually, Al Quds worked with the Coalition in the early stages of the War in Afghanistan. The Iranians pretty much hate the Taliban, and Al Qaeda by extension.

I think the "thought process" in Iran is just that the Great Satan is the source of all that is bad in the world. Remember when we created all those demonstrations after their totally legitimate elections?

[Gramzamber]

You've got to hand it to the Iranians though, I think they've finally beaten George W. Bush's record for the fastest time one can entirely erase international good will and sympathy generated by being the victim of a terrorist attack.

[Edward Yee]

I'm so brokenhearted over people who gave money to suicide bombers and killed our guys in Iraq getting blown up by a suicide bomber.

Didn't one of their few AWACS actually plow into the ground recently?

StrategyPage claims that it was actually the only one... crashing during a celebration of the Iran-Iraq War near Khomeini's tomb. Irony aside, I agree with this comment:

If the poor F-5 pilot is still alive I'm betting he is wishing that his plane hadn't been equipped with an ejector seat........ Can you imagine being responsible for destroying your country's LAST AWACS? Yikes.

[Pelranius]

I haven't seen much credence for the AWACS claim.

And that is strategy page, plagirists galore and all.

[Sea Skimmer]

The claim on the radar plane came originally from DEBKAfile which is 99.99% completely made up bullshit and several orders of magnitude lower in quality then even strategypage. However like a broken clock this time they seem to be right as a number of decently convincing photographs have come out of the debris. The stuff about it crashing into a monument though is of course bullshit, it just plowed into an open field.

[Straha]

The Iranian officials' thought process probably went like this:

Government bigwig #1: Al-Qaida is launching terror attacks against us! The nerve...! I say we hit them with everything we got! That'll teach them!

Bigwig #2: No! Then we'll be playing right into the Americans' hands- we'll become de facto American allies! No, I say we blame al-Qaida's attacks on the Americans. "The enemy of my enemy..." and all that.

Actually, Al Quds worked with the Coalition in the early stages of the War in Afghanistan. The Iranians pretty much hate the Taliban, and Al Qaeda by extension.

I think the "thought process" in Iran is just that the Great Satan is the source of all that is bad in the world. Remember when we created all those demonstrations after their totally legitimate elections?

They also worked with the U.S. during the early stages of Iraq (allowing U.S. fly over of Iranian space, for instance.)

And the Iranians don't blame the U.S. for the Taliban because the religious leaders of Iran loathe the Taliban in a way that is nigh on indescribable. They hate the Taliban's hideous approach to religious education, tolerance of women, approach to public discourse, and religious intolerance (if your irony meter just broke I'll give you a cookie as an apology, but I'm not being sarcastic.) They actually almost went to war with the Taliban in the late 90s, with huge popular support. The Taliban, on the flip side, considers Iran to be a infidel nation led by people who wish to pervert Islam in every possible way.

As for why this event was blamed on America... why the hell not? What credibility does the government have to lose right now? And if they convince one person that this was a British/American plot against Iran then they've got a propaganda victory on their hands.

[montypython]

The AWACS was one of two the Iranians got from the Iraqis, but only one was operational and that one was the one that crashed.

As for the bombing, the Pakistani border regions has been amok to the point that it's going to take a lot more effort than what's currently being done to even have a semblance of order restored.

[Sea Skimmer]

Iraq built several examples of two different radar planes, one was an airborne early warning aircraft, one was a ground surveillance aircraft. In each case the radar was a French set designed for use on the ground, and kludged into an aircraft. Iran got one of each type. The early warning plane was rebuilt by Iran prior to crashing with a newer more useful radar, while reportedly the ground surveillance version got turned back into a normal transport. Its very impressive all and all, the range of military products Saddam was working on in 1991. The world is damn lucky he invaded Kuwait when he did, instead of waiting a few years and cashing in on the great 1990s Russian cold war armaments sell off as well as completing more domestic projects