And Now The Iranian Ire...

In a report from Tehranon February 18,2007, the DPA, the German news agency, reported as follows:

"Iran has summonedthe Pakistani Ambassador to Tehran over the recent bombings in Zahedan insouth-east Iran, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said Sunday.11 people were killed and more than 30 injured after a bomb planted in a carwent off last Wednesday in Zahedan and hit a bus belonging to the paramilitaryrevolutionary guards (IRGC). The victims mainly belonged to the administrativestaff of the IRGC. Also on Friday a percussion bomb exploded on a road inZahedan next to a girls' school and unfinished residential complexes withoutcausing any casualties. The radical Sunni group Jundallah (God's Brigade), whichclaimed responsibility for both attacks, is believed to have infiltrated Iranfrom Pakistan, which borders Iran in the south-east. The Iranian press hascriticized Pakistan for becoming the backyard for terrorists infiltratingIranian soil. The spokesman said in a press conference in Tehran that Iran andPakistan have agreed to form a committee for improving border security. Hosseinisaid that several suspects have been arrested in connection to the bombings andaccording to their confessions, 'aliens' were involved in the incidents. Tehranhas accused the United States and Britain of using radical Sunni groups likeJundullah for sowing discord between Iran's Muslim Shiite majority and the Sunniminority. Zahedan, located in the Sistan-Baluchistan province borderingAfghanistan and Pakistan, is mainly a centre for drug-trafficking. A largenumber of IRGC anti-narcotic forces are stationed in the Sistan-Beluchistanprovince and frequently clash with not only local but also Afghan and Pakistanidrug traffickers who try to smuggle drugs via Iran to European markets. "

On February 16, 2007,the Reuters reported as follows:

"Iran has arrestedsome 65 men suspected of being behind a deadly bombing that killed members ofthe elite Revolutionary Guards in a south-eastern border province, the studentnews agency ISNA said on Friday. It quoted the local police chief as saying thesuspects had clear links to U.S. and British intelligence services. The claimcomes at a time when the United States has accused Iranian groups of involvementin the war in Iraq. Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted an unnamed officialon Friday as saying those behind the bombing had received training from theUnited States to create ethnic divisions in Iran. "I joined Jundallah threemonths ago ... and entered Iran from a neighboring country to carry outterrorist acts. I received trainings in Pakistan," IRNA quoted the keysuspect Nasrollah Shamsi Zehi as saying. Iran's semi-official Fars news agencyalso quoted an unnamed official as saying that "explosives used by theterrorists in Zahedan were American made." The upsurge in unrest inSistan-Baluchestan also follows violence in Iran's oil-rich southwesternprovince of Khuzestan, which has a minority Arab population. "

Those, who have beenreading my articles on Pakistan-Iran-US since 2002, would not have beensurprised by the Iranian allegations against Pakistan. I have been pointing outhow Musharraf has been playing a double game like a gifted commando -- helpingIran acquire a military nuclear capability and helping the US to destroy thatcapability -- and getting lollipops from both. Gas from Iran and dollars andmilitary goodies from the US.

It may be useful inthis regard to refer back to an article of mine written way back in June2003

B. Raman isAdditional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, andpresently, Director, Institute for Topical Studies, Chennai..