Iran warns of retaliatory strikes

Leader blames Saudi Arabia, UAE for parade attack

TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian media outlet close to the hard-line Revolutionary Guard published a video Tuesday threatening missile attacks on the capitals of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, further raising tensions after a weekend militant attack on an Iranian military parade.

The video, in a tweet by the semi-official Fars news agency that was later deleted, comes as Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed Riyadh and Abu Dhabi for the attack in the city of Ahvaz on Saturday, which killed at least 24 people and wounded more than 60. Saudi Arabia adamantly rejected the allegations.

Iranian officials Tuesday identified the five men who carried out the parade attack, which authorities have blamed on Arab separatists. At least two of the men have appeared in a video distributed by the Islamic State group in its claim of responsibility for the Ahvaz attack. This further complicates the process of determining who exactly was behind the assault.

Saudi Arabia, which is locked in a bitter regional rivalry with Iran, Tuesday rejected the “deplorable false accusations” that it was involved.

“Saudi Arabia’s policy is clear regarding its non-interference in the domestic affairs of other countries,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency. “The Iranian regime, in contrast, interferes in the affairs of its neighbors, and is the leading sponsor of terrorism in the region and the world.”

The Fars video showed file footage of previous ballistic missiles launched by the Guard, then a graphic of a sniper rifle scope trained on Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The video also threatened Israel.

“The era of the hit-andrun has expired,” Khamenei is heard saying in the video, a clip from an April speech by the supreme leader. “A heavy punishment is underway.”

Fars did not say why it took the video down. However, it came just before President Hassan Rouhani was to address the U.N. General Assembly later in the day.

Saturday’s attack targeted one of many parades in Iran marking the start of the country’s long 1980s war with Iraq. Militants disguised as soldiers opened fire as rows of troops marched past officials in Ahvaz.

Arab separatists in the region claimed the attack. The separatists accuse Iran’s Persian-dominated government of discriminating against its ethnic Arab minority.

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry on Tuesday identified the attackers as Hassan Darvishi, Javad Sari, Ahmad Mansouri, Foad Mansouri and Ayad Mansouri. It said two of them were brothers and another was their cousin.

Darvishi and Ayad Mansouri appeared in the Islamic State video. A third man in the video resembled either Ahmad or Foad Mansouri, but The Associated Press could not independently verify his identity.

The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency meanwhile dropped the death toll from the attack to at least 24 killed, noting the initial figure of 25 included one of the attackers. It said the assault wounded at least 68 people.