Iran summons Pakistan envoy

Iran's foreign ministry on Sunday summoned the Pakistan ambassador after Tehran accused Islamabad of harbouring a jihadist group, which it says is behind a deadly suicide attack on its security forces.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran expects Pakistan’s government and army to seriously confront the terrorist outfits that are active on its border with Iran," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The suicide bombing on Wednesday killed 27 members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards travelling on a bus in the volatile south-eastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, which

straddles the border with Pakistan. Iran Revolutionary Guards commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari on Saturday blamed Pakistan’s army and Inter-Services Intelligence agency for sheltering the jihadists.

"The government of Pakistan must pay the price for harbouring these terrorist groups and this price will undoubtedly be very high," Jafari told mourners gathered at funerals for the dead in the city of Isfahan.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has also linked the perpetrators of Wednesday's attack to "the spying agencies of some regional and trans-regional countries".