TEHRAN : A suicide bomber blew himself up at a meeting of the elite Revolutionary Guards in South-eastern Iran on Sunday, killing 40 people including top commanders and tribal leaders, the Interior Ministry said.
The attack took place in the city of Pisheen with in restive Sistan-Baluchestan province.
Iran's parliament speaker said the United States was behind the attack, while the Guards accused Western powers of carrying out the assault, the deadliest against them since a bombing in February 2007 in the same province killed 13 people.
"Based on the information as a result of today's terrorist action. So far 40 people have been killed and dozens have been wounded," the interior ministry said on its website.
Iran's state broadcaster said Sunday's blast occurred at around 8:00am in front of a local gymnasium in Pisheen.
Fars news agency said the bomber struck when Guard officers were preparing for a meeting with local leaders of communities. Some local tribal heads were among the dead, media reports said.
The official IRNA news agency said the suicide bomber "wearing an explosives vest blew himself up inside the meeting."
Fars said: "In this terrorist act, General Nur-Ali Shushtari, deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards ground forces, General Mohammad-Zadeh, commander of the Revolutionary Guards in Sistan-Baluchestan province, the Guards' commander for the town of Iranshahr and the commander of the Amir al-Momenin unit died."
Three other commanders from the adjacent province of Kerman were also killed, according to Fars.
In a separate statement later he said the United States was implicated in the deadly attack.
"We consider the recent terrorist attack to be the result of US action. This is the sign of America's animosity against our country," Larijani said.
Iranian officials and several government bodies term Western powers, including the United States, as "world arrogance."
source:www.aaj.tv
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