Iran parade slay terror
Dozens shot dead
Gunmen ambushed an annual Iranian military parade Saturday, killing at least 25 people and wounding 70 others in the bloodiest assault to strike the country in nearly a decade.
Attackers disguised as soldiers blasted gunfire into a crowd of marching Revolutionary Guards, civilians and government officials watching from a reviewing stand.
The chaos in the city of Ahvaz in southwest Iran was captured live on state television. The annual parade was one of many around the country marking the start of Iran’s long 1980s war with Iraq.
An Iranian ethnic Arab opposition movement called the Ahvaz National Resistance claimed responsibility, but Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei put the blame on US-backed Gulf Arab states.
“This crime is a continuation of the plots of the regional states that are puppets of the United States, and their goal is to create insecurity in our dear country," Khamenei said.
The violence was just the latest sign of unrest in a nation that has seen a sharp increase in street protests since December.
US economic sanctions have contributed to a 60 percent inflation rate and rampant unemployment, fueling public anger against the regime. Iranian oil exports have dropped precipitously at the urging of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Earlier Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani talked tough on state television, warning that “America will suffer the same fate as Saddam Hussein” if the United States attempts to make Iran give up its arsenal of ballistic missiles.
Tensions between the two nations, which have been rising since President Trump came to office, rose sharply in May, when Trump yanked the US out of a controversial nuclear deal brokered during the Obama administration.