Iran Blames Pakistan for Pishin Attack as Toll Rises to 42
19/10/2009 Iran's president has accused Pakistan of having links to the bombers who carried out a suicide attack on Sunday in the southeast of the country. During a unity conference between Sunni and Shia tribal leaders in the borderline city of Pishin in Sistan-Baluchistan on Sunday, a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing at least 42 people, including ranking commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
The commander of the IRGC's ground force, General Mohammad Pakpour, said the perpetrators will be dealt a crushing response.
President Ahmadinejad reacted to the attack and demanded Pakistan eradicate the terrorist group Jundullah, which has taken responsibility for the bombing. "We have heard that certain officials in Pakistan cooperate with main agents of these terrorist attacks in eastern parts of the country. It is our right to ask (for extradition) of criminals," Ahmadinejad said after a Cabinet session on Sunday night. “Those who carry out such brutal attacks are unhappy with boosting confidence and coherence among Iranian officials and people.”
Earlier, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires to protest against the terrorists' use of Pakistani soil to conduct activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
But a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman rejected the claim. "Pakistan is not involved in terrorist activities ... we are striving to eradicate this menace," he said.
Other Iranian officials and academics point the finger of blame at the United States and the United Kingdom. Washington has denied involvement with the group, which it has labeled as a "terrorist" organization, and condemned the attack. "We condemn this act of terrorism and mourn the loss of innocent lives," Ian Kelly, the US state department spokesman, said in a statement soon after the blast occurred. "Reports of alleged US involvement are completely false," he said.
Tehran has also suggested that Saudi Arabia and Britain may have supported Jundallah to stir up trouble in the border area. But Britain rejected "in the strongest terms" that it aided rebels behind the bomb attack, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said Monday. "We reject in the strongest terms any assertion that this attack has anything to do with Britain," a spokeswoman told AFP. Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman added: "It is extremely important that we continue with the diplomatic track with Iran," pointing notably to talks in Vienna hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Majid Tafreshi, an Iranian researcher at University College London who specializes in ethnic and religious minorities, said there were clues as to the involvement of Western nations. "Generally you cannot find any proof about this claim, but there are some clues," he told Al Jazeera. "The previous American governments used to play with ethnic minority and ethnic religious groups to play with Iranian politics," he said. "Also you can see in British media nowadays that people who are representative of this terrorist group are easily working and talking to British media and involved in politics and lobbying parliament ... while this group is on the terrorist list and its leaders on the wanted list of Interpol."
Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Monday, in a letter of condolence to his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that Russia is ready to help Iran fight "terrorism". "The fight against the threat of terrorism and the extremism -- wherever it comes from -- requires all countries to join their forces," Medvedev said. "We are ready to cooperate with the Islamic Republic of Iran to counter these threats," he added. Medvedev said he had learned of the attack with "indignation" and condemned "this new evildoing by extremists".
19/10/2009 Iran's president has accused Pakistan of having links to the bombers who carried out a suicide attack on Sunday in the southeast of the country. During a unity conference between Sunni and Shia tribal leaders in the borderline city of Pishin in Sistan-Baluchistan on Sunday, a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing at least 42 people, including ranking commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
The commander of the IRGC's ground force, General Mohammad Pakpour, said the perpetrators will be dealt a crushing response.
President Ahmadinejad reacted to the attack and demanded Pakistan eradicate the terrorist group Jundullah, which has taken responsibility for the bombing. "We have heard that certain officials in Pakistan cooperate with main agents of these terrorist attacks in eastern parts of the country. It is our right to ask (for extradition) of criminals," Ahmadinejad said after a Cabinet session on Sunday night. “Those who carry out such brutal attacks are unhappy with boosting confidence and coherence among Iranian officials and people.”
Earlier, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires to protest against the terrorists' use of Pakistani soil to conduct activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
But a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman rejected the claim. "Pakistan is not involved in terrorist activities ... we are striving to eradicate this menace," he said.
Other Iranian officials and academics point the finger of blame at the United States and the United Kingdom. Washington has denied involvement with the group, which it has labeled as a "terrorist" organization, and condemned the attack. "We condemn this act of terrorism and mourn the loss of innocent lives," Ian Kelly, the US state department spokesman, said in a statement soon after the blast occurred. "Reports of alleged US involvement are completely false," he said.
Tehran has also suggested that Saudi Arabia and Britain may have supported Jundallah to stir up trouble in the border area. But Britain rejected "in the strongest terms" that it aided rebels behind the bomb attack, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said Monday. "We reject in the strongest terms any assertion that this attack has anything to do with Britain," a spokeswoman told AFP. Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman added: "It is extremely important that we continue with the diplomatic track with Iran," pointing notably to talks in Vienna hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Majid Tafreshi, an Iranian researcher at University College London who specializes in ethnic and religious minorities, said there were clues as to the involvement of Western nations. "Generally you cannot find any proof about this claim, but there are some clues," he told Al Jazeera. "The previous American governments used to play with ethnic minority and ethnic religious groups to play with Iranian politics," he said. "Also you can see in British media nowadays that people who are representative of this terrorist group are easily working and talking to British media and involved in politics and lobbying parliament ... while this group is on the terrorist list and its leaders on the wanted list of Interpol."
Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Monday, in a letter of condolence to his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that Russia is ready to help Iran fight "terrorism". "The fight against the threat of terrorism and the extremism -- wherever it comes from -- requires all countries to join their forces," Medvedev said. "We are ready to cooperate with the Islamic Republic of Iran to counter these threats," he added. Medvedev said he had learned of the attack with "indignation" and condemned "this new evildoing by extremists".
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