Agencies
DUBAI: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards vowed to exact “deadly and unforgettable” vengeance for a shooting attack on a military parade that killed 25 people, including 12 of their comrades, and Tehran accused Gulf Arab states of backing the gunmen.
Saturday’s assault, one of the worst ever against the elite force of the Islamic Republic, struck a blow at its security establishment at a time when the United States and its Gulf allies are working to isolate Tehran.
“Considering (the Guards’) full knowledge about the centres of deployment of the criminal terrorists` leaders…, they will face a deadly and unforgettable vengeance in the near future,”
the Guards said in a statement carried by state media.
Four assailants fired on a viewing stand in the southwestern city of Ahvaz where Iranian officials had gathered to watch an annual event marking the start of the Islamic Republic`s 1980-88 war with Iraq. Soldiers crawled about as gunfire crackled. Women and children fled for their lives.
Ahvaz National Resistance, an Iranian ethnic Arab opposition movement which seeks a separate state in oil-rich Khuzestan province, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Islamic State militants also claimed responsibility. Neither claim provided evidence. All four attackers were killed.
There has been a blizzard of furious statements from top Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, accusing Iran`s adversaries the United States and Gulf kingdoms of provoking the bloodshed and threatening a tough response.
Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, rejected Rouhani`s accusations as rhetoric. “He`s got the Iranian people…protesting, every ounce of money that goes into Iran goes into his military, he has oppressed his people for a long time and he needs to look at his own base to figure out where that`s coming from,” Haley told CNN.
“He can blame us all he wants. The thing he`s got to do is look in the mirror,” she said.
Senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have said the Ahvaz attack was carried out by militants trained by Gulf states and Israel and backed by America. But it is unlikely the IRGC will strike any of these foes directly.
The Guards could put on a show of strength by firing missiles at opposition groups operating in Iraq or Syria that may be linked to the militants who staged the attack.
They are also likely to enforce a tight security policy in Khuzestan province, arresting any perceived domestic opponents including civil rights activists.
Three Arab activists told Reuters that security forces, especially the intelligence branch of the Revolutionary Guards, had detained more activists in Ahvaz.
“There are many checkpoints on the streets of Ahvaz, and the security forces are searching cars,” said Hossein Bouazar, a member of Ahwazi Centre for Human Rights. “Many people are scared.” Reuters could not immediately verify this account.
Iran has also been hit by sporadic street protests over economic hardship that have taken on anti-government overtones.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
