Iran Welcomes US Terror Designation for Jundallah

Iran has welcomed a U.S. decision to designate the Sunni militant group Jundallah as a terrorist organization.

The U.S. announced its terror designation for Jundallah Wednesday, saying the militant group carried out several lethal attacks in Iran in recent years. U.S. officials said Jundallah had used terrorist tactics that include suicide bombings and targeted assassinations, in a series of attacks in Iran since 2003.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says the U.S. decision is a step “in the right direction.” In a Thursday briefing, he also repeated Iran’s accusations that the U.S. has provided support to Jundallah.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner denied the United States has provided support to Jundallah, saying Washington does not sponsor terrorism.

Mehmanparast said Tehran would evaluate the change in U.S. policy regarding its support for Jundallah and other terror groups, including PJAK (Party for Free Life of Kurdistan).

Jundallah says it is fighting to secure rights for Sunni Muslim Baluchis, a minority in Shi’ite-dominated Iran. The group operates primarily in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The group has claimed responsibility for a number of recent attacks including twin bombings in July that killed at least 27 people in southeastern Iran. Jundallah said the twin blasts were retaliation for Iran’s June execution of the group’s leader, Abdolmalek Rigi.

Tehran has repeatedly accused the United States of supporting Jundallah and other Iranian opposition groups. Rigi said on Iranian state television before his execution in June that the U.S. had promised the group weapons and a base in Afghanistan.

Some information in this story was provided by AFP.