Iran urges Islamabad act against terrorists in Pakistan

By Islamuddin Sajid, Ahmet Dursun and Behlul Cetinkaya

ANKARA/ISLAMABAD (AA) - Iran has urged Pakistan to act against terror groups present on its territory after a deadly suicide attack in southeastern Iran.

"We demand the Pakistani government prioritize the issue of ending the existence of terrorists on its soil," said Iran’s Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli in a statement following a bombing that targeted a bus carrying a group of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard.

Fazli underlined that Islamabad was responsible for terror groups operating within its borders, adding that his country would not hesitate to act within international law to safeguard its security.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani also criticized the "White House, Tel Aviv and their regional agents," for their role in the attack, according to Tehran's state news agency IRNA.

He said the attack coincides with the start of the U.S.-sponsored two-day international "Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East" in Warsaw, Poland, showing that Washington "did not believe in international law and human rights".

For its part, Pakistan condemned the bombing "in the strongest terms" late on Wednesday.

"Shocked and grieved to hear about the suicide attack on IRGC bus near Zahidan, in which many lives were lost. Deepest sympathies with the families of those who have suffered in this heinous attack of terror," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said on Twitter.

At least 27 members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were killed on Wednesday when a bomb-laden vehicle targeted a bus carrying IRGC personnel in the Sistan-Baluchestan province of Iran.