The commander of the overseas arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards threatened Saudi Arabia with revenge over a suicide bomb attack in southeastern Iran on Feb. 13 that killed 27 Guards members, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday.
"Saudi Arabia is building its regional influence with money only. This is a false influence and a failure. … We will take revenge for our martyrs … [and] it might be anywhere around the world," Quds Force Commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani said.
The Islamic republic has accused arch regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of backing militants who carry out attacks on security forces in Iran. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have denied any connection with the attacks.
The Sunni Muslim militant group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), which says it seeks greater rights and better living conditions for ethnic minority Baluchis in Iran, claimed responsibility for the attack near the border with Pakistan.
Iran's Shiite Muslim authorities say militant groups operate from safe havens in Pakistan and have repeatedly called on the neighboring country to crack down on them.
"I am warning you: Don't test Iran's tolerance," Soleimani said in the latest in a series of warnings issued by Iranian officials since the attack was carried out.
Iran's navy, meanwhile, said on Thursday it will hold an annual drill in the strategic Strait of Hormuz as pressure mounts on the country months after the United States reimposed economic sanctions targeting its vital oil sector.
The strait is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and is crucial to global energy supplies, with about a third of all oil traded at sea passing through it.
Iranian Admiral Hossein Khanzadi told state TV that the three-day maneuvers will start on Friday and extend as far as the Sea of Oman and the fringes of the Indian Ocean.
He said submarines, warships, helicopters and surveillance planes will participate in the drill, dubbed "Velayat-97." The exercise will include missile launches from the vessels.
Iran regularly holds maneuvers in the strait.
