Iran threatens to retaliate against Pakistan over car bombing attack

The head of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard has threatened to retaliate against neighboring Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates over a suicide car bombing this week that killed 27 members of the elite organization.

Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari spoke late Friday at one of two funeral ceremonies for the victims of Wednesday’s attack in the central Iranian city of Isfahan. He claimed without providing evidence that the United States and Israel ordered Saudi Arabia and the Emirates to carry out the attack, which wounded 12.

“If Pakistan does not carry out its responsibilities, Iran reserves the right to confront threats on its borders ... based on international law and will retaliate to punish the terrorists,” Ali Jafari was quoted as saying by state news agency.

The bombing immediately raised the possibility of Iranian retaliation against the Jaish al-Adl Sunni militant group that claimed responsibility for the attack. It mainly operates near the Iran-Pakistan border.

A suicide bomber killed 27 members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday in a southeastern region where security forces are facing a rise in attacks by militants from the country’s Sunni Muslim minority.

The Sunni group Jaish al Adl (Army of Justice), which says it seeks greater rights and better living conditions for the ethnic minority Baluchis, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Iran’s Shi’ite Muslim authorities say militant groups operate from safe havens in Pakistan and have repeatedly called on the neighboring country to crack down on them.

In past Iran has accused its regional rival, Sunni Arab Saudi Arabia, of supporting militant Sunni groups which have attacked its security forces. Riyadh has denied the charges.