SARBAAZ, Iran, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- A suicide bomber targeted Iran's military elite Sunday in an attack that killed six Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders and 36 others.
The attack came at a gathering of tribal leaders in a southeastern province near the Pakistani border, the official Iranian news agency reported.
The man detonated an explosives belt at a gymnasium in Pisheen in Sistan-Baluchistan, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday evening.
State media said the Sunni Muslim militant group Jundallah, or Soldiers of God, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Among those killed was Nour Ali Shoushtari, the deputy head of the Guard's ground forces, who was mediating between the two groups, CNN reported.
A U.S. State Department spokesman denied Iranian accusations the United States was behind the attack.
The Guard, which has more than 200,000 members, was initially created to protect the leaders of the revolution. Today, its scope has broadened to include enforcement of the government's Islamic moral codes and protection of Iran's oil fields and missile arsenals.
