Bomber kills elite Guards

In a brazen attack on Iran's military elite, a suicide bomber yesterday killed six Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders and 26 others at a gathering of tribal leaders in a southeastern province near the Pakistan border known for drug running and religious extremism, according to the official Iranian news agency.

The assault was carried out by a lone man who reportedly disguised himself in tribal dress and detonated an explosives belt at a gymnasium in the city of Pishin in Sistan-Baluchistan, a harsh land plagued by heroin smuggling and ethnic animosities.

At least 28 people were wounded, and images of carnage were broadcast across a stunned nation.

State news media said the Sunni Muslim militant group Jundallah, or Soldiers of God, which operates along the Iran-Pakistan border, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The organization, part of a regional Sunni insurgency in Shiite-dominated Iran, has for years killed and kidnapped Iranian soldiers and police officers.

The bombing yesterday highlighted the increasing dangers near the intersection of Iran and its two troubled neighbors: Afghanistan, where U.S. forces are battling a resurgent Taliban, and Pakistan, where the military this weekend launched a major offensive against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters.

Jundallah has its own agenda in Iran, but its ideology and proximity to the other militant groups prompted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to caution Pakistan about cross-border violence.

"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 last night, shortly after Iranian news agencies reported that Tehran had summoned the Pakistani charge d'affairs to the Foreign Ministry.