TEHRAN: A senior Revolutionary Guards commander said on Wednesday that Iran’s response to a suicide attack that killed 27 soldiers in southeastern region will not be limited to Iranian borders.
Iranian authorities say the militant group Jaish al Adl was behind the carnage. The group also claimed responsibility for the attack.
“Our response in defence of the Islamic Revolution will not be limited to our borders… The enemies will receive a very firm response from the Revolutionary Guards like before,” said Revolutionary Guards commander Ali Fadavi.
A suicide bomber struck members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards in the southeastern region where security forces are facing a rise in attacks by militants from the country’s south-east.
A suicide bomber driving a vehicle laden with explosives attacked a bus transporting members of the Guards, the force said in a statement.
Ten members of the Guards were also wounded in the attack, according to Fars News Agency.
A video posted by Fars showed blood and debris at the site of the attack on the road between the cities of Zahedan and Khash, a volatile area near the Pakistan border. The explosion was so powerful that the bus was turned into a twisted pile of metal, a photo published on Fars showed.
While Jaish al Adl and other groups like it are not regarded as a major security threat, the attack is a fresh blow to the image of the Guards, the most powerful force in Iran, which reports directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Pakistan condemned the suicide attack, “Shocked and grieved to hear about the suicide attack on IRGC bus near Zahidan, in which many lives were lost,” Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said in a statement.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Bahram Qassemi also vowed retaliation for Wednesday’s attack. “The self-sacrificing military and intelligence children of the people of Iran will take revenge for the blood of the martyrs of this incident,” Fars quoted him as saying.