Iran’s Supreme Leader Calls Attack On Parade A “US Plot”; Tehran Summons Western Ambassadors
Iran’s top cleric and leader Ayatollah Khamenei has pointed the finger at the West for a terror attack on a military parade that took place early Saturday in the Southwest city of Ahvaz, which left 25 people dead and over 60 wounded.
Khamenei’s condemnation of “plots hatched by US stooges in the region” came simultaneous to Iran summoning the diplomatic envoys of Western countries including the Netherlands, Denmark and Great Britain, for harboring Iranian opposition groups in their countries.
“It is not acceptable that these groups are not listed as terrorist organizations by the European Union as long as they have not carried out a terrorist attack in Europe,” foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by IRNA, per Reuters.
Government officials also indicated the gunmen which unleashed a hail of bullets on men women and children were disguised as Iranian soldiers: “The terrorists disguised as the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and Basiji (volunteer) forces opened fire at the authorities and people from behind the stand during the parade,” the regional Governor of Khuzestan Gholam-Reza Shariati told state media.
Iranian state IRNA news identified that the self-proclaimed “Saudi-affiliated” Al-Ahwaz terrorist group claimed the responsibility for the attack.
Indeed it appears that a group identifying itself as the “Ahwazi Democratic Popular Front” had announced on Twitter some 13 hours before the attack that “Al-Ahvaz will create a challenge for the Iranian occupiers with an attack,” according to a translation of the tweet.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in the aftermath that “US masters” and regional terrorist forces should be held accountable for the bloodshed.
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