Al-Arabia – Iran’s Minister of Intelligence, Mahmoud Alavi, said on Tuesday that his country will not let last week’s suicide bombing go “unanswered.”
“We will definitely plan how to address this. This is what the Iranian (people) expect from us,” he told reporters at an event organized to commemorate those killed in the attack.
A suicide bombing carried out on a bus last week killed at least 27 personnel belonging to Iran’s elite paramilitary Revolutionary Guard force.
Mehr news agency quoted Alavi as saying that the country’s Supreme National Security Council is examining the details related to the attack in order to “respond firmly.”
The attack, which took place in the volatile province of Sistan-Baluchistan, was claimed by extremist group Jaish al-Adl.
Soon after the attack, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani blamed the United States and its regional allies for the attack while the head of Revolutionary Guard also threatened to retaliate against neighboring Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Meanwhile, Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Ground Forces, said the suicide bomber was identified as Hafiz Mohammed Ali, a Pakistani national.
Pakpour said the group behind the attack included another Pakistani national, Abu Bakr, and that three other perpetrators were from the Sistan-Baluchistan province.
On Monday, the Revolutionary Guards said it arrested three “terrorists” involved in the blast.
“Safe houses in Saravan and Khash were identified and eliminated and the terrorists based there were arrested,” the Revolutionary Guards said.
(With agency inputs)
Last Update: Tuesday, 19 February 2019 KSA 15:24 – GMT 12:24