Here is Al Jazeera's version of the attack in Iran. The Americans deny involvement but Iran suggests they are behind the attack. My instant reaction is that there isn't Western involvement (note, Israel does not appear to be blamed by anyone) but it would not be surprising to learn of American support for dissident groups in Iran. Either way, the incident has implications beyond the immediate.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/2009101871150989932.html
Iran commanders killed
Shushtari was one of the senior Revolutionary Guards officers killed in the attack [AFP]
At least six senior commanders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards are among about 30 people killed in a suicide attack in southeastern Iran.
The suicide bombing, which occurred early on Sunday morning in the city of Pisheen, in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province, wounded another 40 people, according to the state news agency.
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 in Iran in recent years, occurred as officers were preparing to hold a meeting between locals from Shia and Sunni communities.
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 said.
West blamed
A Sunni group called Jundallah (Soldiers of God) claimed responsibility for the attack, according to state media.
"Iranian officials are very confident that the terrorist group behind the attack was funded by the Saudis and supported by the Americans and the British"
Mohammad Marandi, assistant professor at University of TehranThe group has been accused by Tehran of launching regular attacks in the province and is strongly opposed to the predominantly Shia government.
Mohammad Marandi, an assistant professor at the University of Tehran, told Al Jazeera that officials suspected the group was linked to Saudi Arabia, the US and Britain.
"Iranian officials are very confident that the terrorist group behind the attack was funded by the Saudis and supported by the Americans and the British," he said.
"I think the greatest blow [from this attack] is to any Iranian trust with regards to the Americans.
"On the one hand the Americans are talking about rapprochement and building a new future, yet at the same time we see the Americans supporting groups in [Iran's] Kurdish regions as well as in Sistan-Baluchestan."
2 comments:
They're just getting blow back. Iran has sponsored terrorism for years.
It would not be surprising to learn of Western involvement? I should think not. The U.S. has, I believe, three bases in Baluchistan (Pakistan), from which special forces have been conducting black ops into Iran for some years now. That was more or less the Cheney-Musharraf pact -- Musharraf would pacify Baluchistan, where there was and is a militant nationalist movement, and Cheney would look the other way when Musharraf failed to do much about al-Qaeda or the Taliban, which Cheney never cared about anyway.
The Americans don't do suicide bombing themselves, of course, but I expect that they are indeed supporting groups like Jundallah.
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