Iran condemns ‘repugnant’ Trump response to Tehran attack

IRAN has denounced Donald Trump’s response to the Tehran attack as “repugnant”, after the US president implied that the country brought the attack on itself by supporting other terrorist groups. Hours after gunmen and suicide bombers from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) struck in the Iranian capital on Wednesday, the White House issued a statement mixing sympathy with a rebuke.

“We grieve and pray for the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks in Iran, and for the Iranian people, who are going through such challenging times. We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote,” Mr Trump said.

The statement drew an angry response on Twitter from Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, who also criticised efforts by the US Senate to impose new sanctions on Iran. “Repugnant [White House] statement and Senate sanctions as Iranians counter terror backed by US clients. Iranian people reject such US claims of friendship,” Mr Zarif said.

Mr Trump’s statement contrasted with a more straightforward message of condolence that had been released earlier by the US State Department.

Iranian citizens also tweeted their anger at Mr Trump’s statements, with many of them sharing photographs of Iranians holding candle-lit vigils in 2001 immediately after the September 11 attacks.

Iran’s interior ministry meanwhile identified all five of the attackers as Iranian citizens who had joined Isil and fought in Iraq and Syria before returning to their home country last summer.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard said it held Saudi Arabia responsible for the attack in Tehran, pointing to the recent summit between Mr Trump and Gulf Arab leaders where they pledged a hard line against Iran. Saudi Arabia rejected the allegations.