Militants yesterday shot dead at least 24 people, including spectators, at a military parade in southwestern Iran, state media reported, in a rare attack that the government blamed on US ally Saudi Arabia.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting rampage dubbed a “terrorist” attack by the authorities, in which at least 53 people were also wounded, but Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif said that a regional US ally was to blame.
“Terrorists recruited, trained, armed & paid by a foreign regime have attacked Ahvaz,” Zarif said on Twitter. “Iran holds regional terror sponsors and their US masters accountable for such attacks.”
Photo: AFP
The deadly shooting targeted the city of Ahvaz in Khuzestan Province, which borders Iraq, has a large ethnic Arab community and has seen separatist violence in the past, which Iran has blamed on its regional rivals.
“The number of martyrs of the terrorist incident reached 24, some of whom were women and children among the spectators,” IRNA said, adding the death toll could rise further as many of the wounded were in critical condition. Earlier, Hosseinzadeh said that “eight to nine” of the dead were troops.
Four people at 9am attacked a parade commemorating the start of the devastating 1980-1988 war between Iran and Iraq, then led by president Saddam Hussein.
Photo: AFP
“Two were killed and two arrested,” Hosseinzadeh said.
Several media reported that the attackers were disguised in Iranian military uniforms.
The semi-official Fars news agency said that they were overwhelmed by the security forces before they could attack the dignitaries watching the parade.
Zarif did not specify which regional government he held responsible for the shooting, but the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that the attackers were funded by Sunni archrival Riyadh.
“Those who opened fire on civilians and the armed forces have links to the Ahvazi movement,” IRGC spokesman Ramezan Sharif told ISNA. “They are funded by Saudi Arabia and attempted to cast a shadow over the Iranian armed forces.’
Zarif vowed that Iran would “respond swiftly and decisively in defense of Iranian lives.”
Khuzestan was a major battleground of the 1980s war with Saddam’s Iraq and the attack on the anniversary parade in Ahvaz had significant symbolic value.
The province saw unrest in 2005 and 2011, but has since seen been largely quiet. Attacks by Kurdish rebels on military patrols along the border further north are relatively common, but attacks on government targets inside major cities are far rarer.
On June 7 last year, 17 people were killed and dozens wounded in simultaneous attacks in Tehran on the Iranian Parliament and on the tomb of revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini — the first inside Iran claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.
In April, 26 alleged IS militants went on trial on charges connected with that twin attack.
Police said that five people were arrested at the scene of the attacks and dozens more arrests were reported in the following months — many along the borders with Iraq and Turkey.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was among the dignitaries at the main anniversary parade in Tehran.
In a keynote speech, he vowed to boost Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities, despite Western concerns that were cited by US President Donald Trump in May, when he abandoned the Iran nuclear deal.
“We will never decrease our defensive capabilities... we will increase them day by day,” Rouhani said. “The fact that the missiles anger you shows they are our most effective weapons.”
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