Iran’s Sunni militants carve secretive path

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Seven years ago, a little-known group called Jundallah emerged in Iran with claims to fight for the rights of minority Sunnis in the unruly tribal areas near the Pakistan border.

But last week, Iranian leaders say, this shadowy group with reported connections to countries as diverse as the U.S., Pakistan and Saudi Arabia delivered a devastating attack on Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard. The Oct. 18 suicide bombing in an Iranian border village killed at least 42 people, including top Revolutionary Guard commanders.

The bombing suggests that ambitions by Jundallah – the Soldiers of God – have risen, and that the group is moving toward a wider uprising. Jundallah’s attack on a Shiite mosque in May and recent use of suicide bombers could point to the growing influence of militant Islamic groups seeking a Sunni revolt against Shiite control in Iran, experts say.

Recent Jundallah attacks “express a clear will for a definitive rupture with the regime in Tehran,” said Stephane Dudoignon, a Paris-based researcher who specializes in the Baluchi region. “It seems to be announcing an unprecedented escalation of violence in the months and years to come.”

Last week’s bombing also shows how Jundallah has become a magnet for theories and suspicions. Immediately after the attack, leaders in Tehran drew a far-reaching web of accusations linking Jundallah to supporters in Pakistan, Britain and the U.S. All three nations quickly rejected the claims.

The rumblings – never clearly confirmed or debunked – span from covert U.S. aid, to indoctrination by Islamic radicals to links to smuggling networks. Reports by regional experts and interviews with security officials, including a former military chief in Pakistan, suggest Jundallah has benefited from U.S. and Pakistani help and, more recently, might have drifted closer to anti-Shiite militants with links to Saudi Arabia.

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