The attack occurred as officers were preparing to meet locals from Shia and Sunni communities [AFP]
The attack occurred as officers were preparing to meet locals from Shia and Sunni communities [AFP]
The attack occurred as officers were preparing to meet locals from Shia and Sunni communities [AFP]
The suicide bombing, which occurred early on Sunday morning in the city of Pisheen, in Sistan-Baluchestan province, wounded another 40 people, according to the state news agency.
At least five senior commanders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' are among about 20 people who have been killed in an attack in southeastern Iran.
General Nourali Shoushtari, the head of the Revolutionary Guards' armed forces, and General Mohammadzadeh, the Guard's commander in Sistan-Baluchestan, were killed.
The attack, the deadliest attack in Iran in recent years, occurred as officers were preparing to stage a meeting between locals from Shia and Sunni communities.
Some local tribal leaders, civilians and senior Revolutionary Guards' officers were reportedly among those killed.
Ali Larijani, Iran's parliamentary speaker, confirmed the deaths in an address to parliament.
"We express our condolences for their martyrdom ... The intention of the terrorists was definitely to disrupt security in Sistan-Baluchestan province,'' Larijani told an open session of the parliament.
Past attacks
Sistan-Baluchestan borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, and has been the scene of past clashes between security forces, Sunni fighters and drug traffickers.
One Sunni group called Jundallah (Soldiers of God) has been accused by Tehran of launching regular attacks in the province and is strongly opposed to the predominantly Shia government.
The Revolutionary Guards is an elite force fiercely loyal to the tenants of the Islamic revolution of 1979.
Al Jazeera's Nazinene Moshiri, in Tehran, the capital, said: "Just three weeks before [June's] presidential elections there was a big explosion in that area, where 25 people were killed and more than 100 injured.
"The head of Jundullah said that his group carried out the attack.
"The Iranian's say that they are carrying out a duel war against drug traffickers and Jundullah, which they claim is linked to al-Qaeda."
Moshiri said that there was no suggestion that the blast was linked to the recent disputed presidential elections.
"What is common in this area is kidnappings, explosions and clashes between Jundullah and Iranian authorities.
"But what is very interesting is that this meeting that was about to take place was with senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guard. So this was potentially an extremely important meeting."
Iran's state-sponsored Fars news agency report at least twenty killed, including senior members of the Revolutionary Guard, and another forty wounded, by a suicide bombing in Pishin, a city in the country's south-eastern Sistan-Baluchistan province.
Revolutionary Guards
According to the agency, terrorists killed both local tribal heads and senior army officers. "In this terrorist act, General Nur-Ali Shushtari, deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards land army, 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." According to IRNA, the state news agency, Rajab Ali Mohammadzadeh, the Guard's chief provincial commander, is among those killed.

The commanders were meeting with tribal leaders of Sunni and Shiite communities in the region.

This is the biggest attack against the Revolutionary Guards in recent years. Parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani condemned it live on state radio, and the announcement to parliament was broadcast on television; "we express our condolences for their martyrdom. The intention of the terrorists was definitely to disrupt security in Sistan-Baluchistan Province."

A Revolutionary Guard statement on TV claimed "foreign involvement"; "surely foreign elements, particularly those linked to the global arrogance, were involved in this attack."

The region is predominantly made up of the Sunni Baluchi ethnic group. Some are strongly opposed to the mainly Shiite Iranian government and Shia rule.

In the past, Iran has accused the Jundallah (Soldiers of God) of carrying out terrorist activities in the province, which borders  Afghanistan and Pakistan. Although, no clearly identified group claims responsibility for such.