Iran blames Saudi Arabia for Isil terror attacks on its capital
Tehran’s condemnation escalates the faceoff between Sunni and Shia powers in the Middle East
IRAN last night blamed Saudi Arabia for two Isil attacks in Tehran, a move that threatened to escalate the terrorists’ actions into a regional confrontation between Sunni and Shia powers.
Gunmen and suicide bombers from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) killed 12 people when they assaulted the Iranian parliament and a shrine to Ayatollah Khomeini yesterday morning.
In a statement released hours later, the Revolutionary Guard said it held Saudi Arabia responsible for the Sunni jihadist group’s actions and promised revenge.
“This terrorist attack happened only a week after the meeting between the US president and the backward [Saudi] leaders who support terrorists,” it said.
“The fact that Islamic State has claimed responsibility proves that they were involved in the brutal attack.”
There was no immediate response from Saudi Arabia and Iran did not specify what steps it planned to take in response to the attack.
While the jihadist group has made threats against Iran for years, these were its first significant strikes on Iranian soil.
One team of assailants entered the parliament building in central Tehran, reportedly disguised as women, and opened fire on security guards before taking hostages. The siege came to an end after four hours when one of the attackers detonated a suicide vest.
A second group attacked a highly symbolic shrine to Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic, a few miles away from parliament.
One of the attackers blew himself up and a second was shot dead by security forces.
Isil’s official Amaq News Agency released a graphic video of the parliament attack while fighting was still going on. The 24-minute video showed two gunmen in an office, firing bullets into a bloodied body on the floor.
“Do you think that we are going to leave? We will remain here, God willing,” one said.
Isil has recently stepped up its propaganda against Iran and in March released a video calling on the country’s Sunni minority to rise up against the Shia regime. “Sectarian rhetoric is cat- nip for the Islamic State,” said Charlie Winter, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation.
“It gives credit to their ideological position that Sunni and Shia Islam are fundamentally incompatible.”
The attacks were condemned by Britain and European leaders.
“My sympathy to all the innocent victims and those affected by the terrible incidents in Tehran,” said Nicholas Hopton, the British ambassador.
Iran’s parliament continued meeting even as shooting erupted outside the main chamber, in a show of defiance.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shrugged off attacks. “These fire-crackers that happened today will not have the slightest effect on the will of the people,” he said.
President Hassan Rouhani called for global unity against violent extremism.