Britain denies involvement in Iran attack

LONDON (AFP) – Britain denied "in the strongest terms" allegations that it aided rebels behind a bomb attack on Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, the Foreign Office (FCO) said on Monday.

"We reject in the strongest terms any assertion that this attack has anything to do with Britain," a spokeswoman told AFP in reference to Sunday's suicde attack near Iran's border with Pakistan which killed 42 people.

Britain, she said, "condemns the terrorist attack in the Province of Sistan and Baluchestan in Iran and the sad loss of life which it caused.

"Our sympathies go to those who have been killed or injured in the attack and their families," she added.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman added: "It is extremely important that we continue with the diplomatic track with Iran," pointing notably to talks in Vienna hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The comments came as an Iranian general accused Pakistan, Britain and the United States of aiding Sunni rebels behind a devastating suicide attack which killed 42 people, including seven military commanders.

The suicide bomber blew himself up at a meeting of Revolutionary Guards and local tribesmen in Iran's restive Sistan-Baluchestan province, a hotbed of Sunni insurgency.

General Mohammad Pakpour, the head of Guards' ground forces and whose deputy was killed in the blast, said Washington and London were backing those who carried out the attack against Iran's prestigious military force.

The IAEA talks in Vienna are the latest attempt by the international powers to restrict Iran's nuclear drive. The UN Security Council has already imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran for refusing to stop its enrichment.

Western powers have threatened to move for more sanctions unless Iran falls in line with UN resolutions.