TEHRAN, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Iran's high-ranking officials on Sunday attributed the suicide terrorist bomb attack in southeastern Iran to the hostility of the Islamic Republic's enemies.

    Early on Sunday, a deadly bomb attack occurred in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan near Iran's border with Pakistan, killing some 30 people, including a number of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) commanders, and wounded 30 others, according to the official IRNA news agency.

    The Sunni rebel group Jundallah (God's soldiers) has claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide attack.

    Expressing condolence over the incident, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that the "terrorist attack" was carried out by the foreign-bound criminals.

    "The crime of the foreign-bound (elements) which led to the martyrdom of people and a number of the devoted (Islamic Revolution) Guards ... is regretful for me and at the same time an everlasting honor for the Islamic Revolution," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by IRNA.

    He vowed that "I ensure the nation especially the reverend people of Sistan-Baluchestan province that the criminals will receive the response for their anti-human action soon."

    Meanwhile, Iran's Majlis (Parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani attributed the terrorist attack to American hostile efforts against Iran.

    "The terrorist attack is the result of the U.S. efforts and a sign of U.S. hostility towards Iran," Larijani told reporters before departure for Geneva for the General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

    He called the "U.S. hostility" an action in stark contrast to U.S. President Barack Obama's extended hand towards Iran, adding that the Iranian people rightly doubt the American promises which are in fact against their interests.

    Also, a statement issued on Sunday by IRGC said that the terrorist attack which claimed lives of a number of IRGC commanders "served the strategic objectives of the scarred enemies of the Islamic system in Iran."

    According to local satellite Press TV report, six senior commanders of IRGC were assassinated in the "terrorist attack."

    Two senior commanders of IRGC, Gen. Noor Ali Shooshtari, the deputy commander of the Guard's ground force, and Rajabali Mohammadzadeh, the Guard's chief provincial commander, were among the assassinated officers.

    The military commanders of IRGC were to attend a ceremony in which they would meet the local tribal leaders to strengthen the unity between Iranian Shiite and Sunni Muslims in the province. The casualties also included some local tribal heads, according to the media reports.

    The statement also said that the IRGC's services to the country always aimed at deflecting crises and fighting foreign plots especially in the region of Sistan-Baluchestan. IRGC vowed to continue its efforts to provide public security, according to IRNA.

    In the meantime, Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said Sunday that the terrorist act in the province indicated that "the enemies are afraid of consolidation of unity between people, officials and the armed forces."

    "The support of certain governments which mastermind such plots once again revealed their enmity and hostile attitudes towards promotion of tranquillity, security and welfare of the oppressed people in Sistan-Baluchestan province," IRNA quoted Vahidi as saying.

    "The enemies are afraid of consolidation of unity among religious sects in the province," Vahidi said, adding that "The enemies should bear in their minds that they will never attain their sinister goals which will backfire through firm determination of people and officials."

    In the past few years, Iran has often been hit by bombings and armed attacks in its southeastern provinces bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, which the authorities usually blamed on the Sunni rebel group Jundallah.

    Iran has blamed the United States, Britain and some other Western countries behind these attacks and accused them of destabilizing the Islamic Republic, a charge denied by Washington and London.

    Clashes between Iranian security forces and drug smugglers were also frequent on the eastern border areas of Iran, which is located at the crossroad of international drug smuggling from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Europe.