Iran's military suffered a heavy blow today when a suicide bomber killed at least 29 people in the country's volatile south-east, including several Revolutionary Guard commanders.
The victims included the guards' deputy commander, General Noor Ali Shooshtari, thought to be the most senior member killed in recent years.
Local media said at least 28 had been wounded in the bombing at a conference hall in Sarbaz in Sistan-Baluchistan, Iran's poorest province, as Revolutionary Guard commanders met local tribal elders.
Conflicting reports said an undetermined number of commanders had died. Initial accounts put the number at six, but Hosein Ali Shahriari, MP for Zahedan, the provincial capital, told the semi-official news agency ILNA, that at least 20 commanders had died.
Rajab Ali Mohammadzadeh, chief commander of Sistan-Baluchistan province, was also killed.It was Iran's highest military death toll since the end of the 1980-1988 Iraq war, the conservative website Tabnak said.
Officials immediately blamed Britain and the US as rescue workers sifted through wreckage searching for survivors. "Surely foreign elements, particularly those linked to the global arrogance [regime code for America and Britain], were involved in this attack," a guards statement read out on state TV said.
Suspicion also centred on Jundallah, a militant Sunni group that has claimed responsibility for previous bombings.
Official reports were confused. The official news agency, IRNA, reported that an attacker with explosives blew himself up. The English-language state satellite channel, Press TV, said there were two simultaneous explosions: one at the meeting and another targeting an additional convoy of guards en route to the gathering.
The blast appeared to be a direct challenge to the Revolutionary Guards.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/18/iran-revolutionary-guard-suicide-bomb
:lol:
We know it could not have been the United States, Obama already has his hands tied up running a major war against Fox News and those two other insignificant places Afghanistan & Iraq.
The victims included the guards' deputy commander, General Noor Ali Shooshtari, thought to be the most senior member killed in recent years.
Local media said at least 28 had been wounded in the bombing at a conference hall in Sarbaz in Sistan-Baluchistan, Iran's poorest province, as Revolutionary Guard commanders met local tribal elders.
Conflicting reports said an undetermined number of commanders had died. Initial accounts put the number at six, but Hosein Ali Shahriari, MP for Zahedan, the provincial capital, told the semi-official news agency ILNA, that at least 20 commanders had died.
Rajab Ali Mohammadzadeh, chief commander of Sistan-Baluchistan province, was also killed.It was Iran's highest military death toll since the end of the 1980-1988 Iraq war, the conservative website Tabnak said.
Officials immediately blamed Britain and the US as rescue workers sifted through wreckage searching for survivors. "Surely foreign elements, particularly those linked to the global arrogance [regime code for America and Britain], were involved in this attack," a guards statement read out on state TV said.
Suspicion also centred on Jundallah, a militant Sunni group that has claimed responsibility for previous bombings.
Official reports were confused. The official news agency, IRNA, reported that an attacker with explosives blew himself up. The English-language state satellite channel, Press TV, said there were two simultaneous explosions: one at the meeting and another targeting an additional convoy of guards en route to the gathering.
The blast appeared to be a direct challenge to the Revolutionary Guards.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/18/iran-revolutionary-guard-suicide-bomb
:lol:
We know it could not have been the United States, Obama already has his hands tied up running a major war against Fox News and those two other insignificant places Afghanistan & Iraq.