Iran video threatens missile strikes on UAE, Saudi Arabia

TEHRAN, IRAN — An Iranian media outlet close to the hardline 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 over 60. Saudi Arabia adamantly rejected the allegations.

The threat amplifies the unease felt across the Persian Gulf, as Iran’s economy reels in the wake of America’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and Saudi and Emirati forces are bogged down in their war against Iran-aligned rebels in Yemen.

Iranian officials on 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 own 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, on Tuesday rejected the “deplorable false accusations” it was involved in the attack.

“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 neighbours, 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-and-run 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.