Ban Ki-moon condemns 'terrorist' attack in Iran

The secretary general said at least 18 people were killed and many more wounded.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday condemned what he called 'the terrorist attack' on a bus carrying elite Revolutionary Guards in southeastern Iran, killing at least 18 people.

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In a statement released by his spokeswoman Michele Montas, the secretary general said at least 18 people were killed and many more wounded. He reiterated that "no cause can justify the use of terrorist violence".

Iranian official media earlier reported that the bus was taking the Guards, members of the country's crack ideological army, from their housing compound in the city of Zahedan to a military base just after daybreak when gunfire forced it to stop in front of a booby-trapped car, which then exploded.

According to unconfirmed website reports, the attack was claimed by a shadowy Sunni militant group, Jundallah, which has been blamed for a string of armed incidents in volatile Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Iranian official reported 11 dead, all from the Guards, and 31 wounded.