Actually the “global arrogance,” which is the new favored term for the U.S. Not bad, but “Great Satan” had that connection to the Meccan pilgrimage which gave it an extra frisson for Muslims worldwide.
In reality, this attack was carried out by a Sunni jihadist group in rebellion against the Twelver Shi’ite mullahcracy. “Suicide attack on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard leaves 20 dead,” by Jenny Booth for the Times Online, October 18 (thanks to Alan of England):
A suicide attack targeting the Revolutionary Guards in Iran today has killed around 20 people and wounded 40 more, according to Iranian state television.
At least two senior commanders from the elite and politically influential force were said to be among the dead, in an attack that is being blamed on Sunni rebel group.
English-language Press TV said that “the finger of accusation is directly pointed at the Jundollah group,” referring to ethnic Baluch Sunni insurgents who have been blamed for previous attacks in the region.
A statement from the Guards meanwhile accused America and its allies of involvement in the attack, which took place in the southeast of the country near the Pakistan border.
“Surely foreign elements, particularly those linked to the global arrogance, were involved in this attack,” said the Guards statement, reported on Press TV. Iran often uses the term “global arrogance” to refer to the United States, its old foe….
News agencies named the two most high-ranking casualties as the deputy head of the Guards’ ground forces, General Nourali Shoushtari, and the Guards’ commander in Sistan-Baluchestan province, General Mohammadzadeh. Shoushtari was also a senior official of the Guard’s elite Qods force, media said….
Jundollah (God’s soldiers) claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on a Shia mosque in Sistan-Baluchestan province in May that killed 25 people.
In 2007 the group abducted nine Iranian soldiers in the same region, demanding that Tehran free 16 imprisoned members of the group.
Iran accuses the US of backing Jundollah in order to create instability in the country. Washington denies the charge. Jundollah itself says it is fighting for the rights of the Islamic Republic’s minority Sunnis.
Iran, a predominantly Shia country, also claims that there are links between Jundollah and the al Qaeda network. Most people in Sistan-Baluchestan are Sunnis and ethnic Baluchis. Iran rejects allegations by Western rights groups that it discriminates against ethnic and religious minorities….
Of course! Why should a regime based on Islamic law discriminate against religious minorities? What’s that? Because Islamic law institutionalizes discrimination against religious minorities? You mean…you mean…Iran is run by Islamophobes?