By Fredrik Dahl
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards promised a "crushing" response to an attack that killed several senior commanders, state television said on Monday, as the death toll from the deadliest such incident in years rose to 42.
In neighbouring Pakistan, a Foreign Ministry spokesman condemned Sunday's suicide bombing in southeastern Iran near the Pakistani border and denied suggestions from Iran that security agents in Pakistan were cooperating with the perpetrators.
The attack in Sistan-Baluchestan province, which killed the deputy head of the Guards' ground forces, highlighted deepening instability in a region of mainly Shi'ite Muslim Iran bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Many minority Sunnis live in the impoverished area, which has seen an upsurge in bombings and other violence.
On Sunday, state media said a local rebel Sunni group called Jundollah (God's soldiers) claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded many people ahead of a meeting between Guards officers and tribal chiefs.
"At least 42 killed, dozens hurt in southeast Iran terrorist attack," Press TV, Iran's state English-language television station, said.
It said tribal leaders and civilians were also among the victims and that the Guards had promised a "crushing response".
Sunday's planned meeting in the city of Sarbaz was part of efforts to foster Shi'ite-Sunni unity and the Guards said the attack was aimed at fomenting sectarian strife in the region. About 10 senior tribal figures died in the incident
Sistan-Baluchestan is the scene of frequent clashes between security forces, ethnic Baluch Sunni insurgents and heavily-armed drug traffickers.
Jundollah, which accuses Iran's Shi'ite-led government of discrimination against Sunnis in the remote desert region, has been blamed for many deadly incidents over the last few years.
"GHASTLY ACT OF TERRORISM"
Iranian officials also accused the United States and Britain of involvement, a charge rejected by Washington, which also condemned the attack. Iran has in the past said Washington backed Jundollah to stir trouble in the border area and has also linked the group to the Sunni Islamist al Qaeda network.
Sunday's attack was the deadliest such incident in Iran since its 1980-88 war with Iraq. A bombing of a mosque in Sistan-Baluchestan last May, reportedly also claimed by Jundollah, killed 25 people.
The attack and allegations of foreign involvement risk overshadowing talks between Iranian and Western officials in Vienna later on Monday intended to help resolve a standoff with the West about Iran's nuclear ambitions
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying on Sunday that security agents in Pakistan were cooperating with the militants behind the bombing.
"We were informed that some security agents in Pakistan are cooperating with the main elements of this terrorist incident ... We regard it as our right to demand these criminals from them," Ahmadinejad said, Fars News Agency reported.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told the Daily Times newspaper: "Pakistan is not involved in terrorist activities ... we are striving to eradicate this menace."
Pakistan's Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the "ghastly act of terrorism" in Iran, his office said.
Pakistan has in the past backed Sunni Muslim armed groups, particularly in Afghanistan in the 1980s against Soviet occupiers. It also supported militants who have been battling Indian security forces in the disputed Kashmir region. Both Afghanistan and India say Pakistan has maintained links to some militant groups.
Relations between Iran and Pakistan have been generally good in recent years and the neighbours are cooperating on plans to build a natural gas pipeline link.
But Iran has in the past accused Pakistan of hosting Jundollah members, Iranian state television said.
Some analysts believe Jundollah has evolved through shifting alliances with various parties, including the Taliban and Pakistan's ISI intelligence service, who saw the group as a tool against Iran.
(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony in Islamabad; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)
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