GULF countries and their “US masters” have been blamed by Iran’s foreign minister for an attack on an Iranian military parade which has killed at least 24 people, including civilians.
More than 50 people were injured after gunmen opened fire yesterday in the south-western city of Ahvaz, capital of the country’s oil-rich Khuzestan province.
“There are a number of non-military victims, including women and children who had come to watch the parade,” Irna news agency said.
Two of the military-clad gunmen were immediately shot dead by security forces while the other two were arrested after the attack, which lasted for around 10 minutes.
Video images of the aftermath showed paramedics attending to someone in military dress lying on the ground while armed personnel yelled at each other in front of what looked like a viewing stand for the march.
Pictures from local news sources showed blood covered troops in dress uniforms helping each other away from the site.
Initial reports called the four attackers “Takifiri gunmen” – a term previously used to describe Daesh fighters.
Daesh and an anti-government Arab group called Ahvaz National Resistance both later claimed responsibility for the attack but provided no evidence to prove their involvement.
However, an Iranian military spokesman said the gunmen were not from Daesh but “were trained and organised by two Gulf countries”, and had ties to Israel and the US.
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said a “foreign regime” was behind the attack on the parade, held to mark the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
“Terrorists recruited, trained, armed and paid by a foreign regime have attacked Ahvaz,” he tweeted.
“Children and journos among casualties. Iran holds regional terror sponsors and their US masters accountable for such attacks. Iran will respond swiftly and decisively in defence of Iranian lives.”
He did not name the foreign regime but Tehran-based journalist Mostafa Koshcheshm said the Revolutionary Guards had pinned the blame on the Ahwazi separatist movement, which, he said, has been “nurtured, supported, and trained by Saudi Arabia”.
“It’s been operating for the past several years, they are looking to cut off and separate Iran’s energy rich province of Khuzestan from Iran, which is exactly what Saddam Hussein wanted to do,” said Koshcheshm.
“They call themselves Arab nationalists but we know they have very intimate ties to the Mujahedin-e-Khalq,”
he said, referring to an exiled dissident group, accused of killing thousands of Iranian officials and civilians.
Iran has previously blamed Saudi, its regional rival, for supporting separatist activity amongst the country’s Arab minority.
Russian president Vladimir Putin yesterday expressed his condolences, saying Moscow was ready to help in the fight against terrorism.
Last June, Daesh was behind a deadly attack on Iran’s parliament and the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeni in Tehran.
It was the first attack by Sunni extremists within Iran, which has been heavily involved in the wars in Syria and Iraq, where Daesh held a large territory.
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