Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard proved itself as vulnerable as the general population Sunday when a suicide bomber killed five of its senior commanders in an attack in the city of Sarbaz, located in the Pishin region.
Among the dead were the deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guard ground force, General Noor Ali Shooshtari, and the regional commander, Rajab Ali Mohammadzadeh.
The terrorist killed at least 42 people and wounded 28 others, according to the state-run Press TV, blowing himself up near a car in which the Revolutionary Guard commanders were traveling. Other news outlets quoted varying figures on the number of dead and wounded.
A statement by the Guards accused "foreign elements" of perpetrating or inciting the attack. "Surely foreign elements, particularly those linked to the global arrogance, were involved," the statement said. The term, "global arrogance" is a code often used in Iran to refer to the United States and sometimes Britain.
The attack took place in the Sistan-Baluchestan province in the southeastern section of the country, near the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to the IRNA and Fars Iranian news agencies.
Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani confirmed the deaths and condemned the killing of the Guards. He told lawmakers during a legislative session broadcast live on state radio, "We express our condolences for their martyrdom... The intention of the terrorists was definitely to disrupt security in Sistan-Baluchestan Province."
Late in the day, the Jundallah (Soldiers of God) group, also known as the People's Resistance Movement, claimed responsibility for the attack on the Guards, the elite security force for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The group, comprised of Sunni insurgents from the Baluchi ethnic minority that resides in the region, has waged war with numerous attacks in the area against the Shiite majority government, saying it is fighting for Sunni Muslim rights in Iran.