TEHRAN, Iran — A bomb exploded in southeastern Iran late Friday, near the site where an earlier explosion this week killed 11 members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, the state-run news agency IRNA reported.

“Minutes ago, the sound of a bomb explosion was heard in one of Zahedan streets,” the agency said but gave no further details. IRNA didn’t say whether the explosion had caused any deaths or injuries.

Fars had said that after the blast, which took place near a female school, clashes broke out between Iranian police and armed insurgents in Zahedan, capital of the Sistan-Baluchestan province on the border with Pakistan.

The Friday blast came came just hours after the funeral of the 11 Revolutionary Guardsmen killed here Wednesday when a car bomb blew up a bus owned by the elite troops in Zahedan.

A Sunni Muslim militant group called Jundallah, or God’s Brigade, which has been blamed for past attacks on Iranian troops, has claimed responsibility for the Wednesday bombing.

Iran has accused the United States of backing militants to destabilize the country. The accusation come amid growing tensions between Tehran and Washington over insurgency in Iraq and Iran’s controversial nuclear activities. Separately, IRNA quoted an unnamed “responsible official” late Friday as saying that one of those arrested on charges of involvement in Wednesday’s bombing, identified as Nasrollah Shanbe Zehi, has “confessed” that the attacks were part of alleged U.S. plans to provoke ethnic and religious violence in Iran.”

If the Sunnis are being backed by us, good for us! Supporting a Sunni insurgency is appropriate. However, the Saudis and other Sunni Arab Gulf nations have a huge interest in taking down Iran. The backing could well be coming in from all over and probably is.

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