Dubai: The Iranian government should tackle the sources of the country’s internal tension instead of blaming its external enemies, an academic and political analyst told Gulf News.

“Even if true, blaming the West for local problems is not going to help Iran any more,” said Dr Mohammad Saleh Sidqian of the University of Tehran

“Unless swift action is taken by the government to defuse a number of burning issues, Iran’s social stability would be at risk,” he added.

Commenting on the suicide attack last Sunday that killed five senior commanders of the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (RGC), another political analyst said pinning the blame on the West is not working any more especially in cases of sectarian conflict between the Shiite and Sunni.

“Iran suffers from acute sectarian divide and the government has to politically take action before its too late,” Najah Mohammad Ali, a journalist who is an expert on Iranian issues told Gulf News.

A militant group from Iran’s Sunni minority, Jundallah-Soldiers of God, claimed responsibility for the attack which is being considered as the most serious terror incident in Iran in the last 10 years.

Sidiqian said the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not weak as critics describe it following the dispute over the results of the presidential election held in June.

“The problem is the government has been handling too many issues simultaneously including the nuclear issue with the West,” he said.

But Ali said the recent suicide attack was a message to the government, over its policies like giving the elite forces more political power, which many believe is in violation of the constitution.

It was clear that the attack occurred while the leaders of the RGC were carrying out a political mission in the province.

“The RGC officers killed in the attack were trying to mend fences with the Sunni tribal leaders in the province after the same RGC generals fought against the tribal community they described earlier as narcotics smugglers and outlaw thugs,” he said.

Political mission

“No one should agree with terrorism, but the Iranian government should not have assigned RGC leaders to conduct a political mission while the majority of the people in the province consider the RGC as the enemy of the Sunni community in the province.

“The US, the UK or even neighbouring Pakistan cannot be blamed for the deadly attack, which calls into question the ability of the government to resolve political issues instead of despatching generals from its elite forces to conduct a political exercise,” he said.

Pictures of the crime scene showed the slain RGC commanders wearing traditional costumes instead of their military uniforms.

Ali said dumping the uniform does not turn a military man into a politician in the eyes of the public.

He said no one in the world, including the US and the UK, is willing to instigate sectarian conflict in the region.

The conflict in the Pathan tribal area is just a reaction to government policies and harsh handling of communal and security issues in the province, he said.

The RGC, which was created in 1979, was formed to protect the Islamic revolution against internal and external threats and has no political role whatsoever in the society. The 120,000-strong force, answers to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ali said the RGC has been extensively used in political activities during the June election and in the recent political exercise in Pishin province.