Report: Bomber kills 41 Guards

A suicide TEHRAN, IRAN — bomber killed 41 members of the Islamic Revolution- ary Guards Corps on a bus in a restive region of south- east Iran on Wednesday, Iranian media reported. It was among the deadliest attacks in Iran in years.

The Revolutionary Guards, an elite Iranian paramilitary force, blamed the United States for the assault, which came during the week that Iran’s leaders have been cel- ebrating the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that overthrew the U.S.- backed shah in 1979. The Revolutionary Guards did not explain precisely how the United States could have been involved in the attack.

Dispatches by the offi- cial Islamic Republic News Agency and the Fars News Agency said the victims had been traveling between the cities of Zahedan and Khash near the Pakistan border, a haven for militant separatist groups and drug smugglers.

After initially reporting at least 20 people had died in the attack, with an additional 20 wounded, Fars updated the death toll to at least 41 — suggesting that everyone on the bus had been killed.

Fars said a bomber driv- ing a car full of explosives on a highway had detonated it near the bus, and a video posted on the agency’s website showed what it said were charred remains of the bus.

On the social messaging app Telegram, a militant group called Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for the attack, but officials did not confirm that the group was involved.

A statement issued by the Revolutionary Guards said the bus had been “carrying the warriors of Islam soldiers who were returning from the region to their cities after completing their border mission.”

While the United States and Israel have accused Iran of fomenting terrorism in the Middle East, Iran itself has also been the target of terrorist attacks since the Islamic Revolution.

In September, gunmen killed at least 25 people and wounded 60 in an assault on a military parade in Ahvaz, in southwestern Iran, where Arab separatists are active. The victims were a mix of Revolutionary Guards members and civilian onlookers.