Gunmen kill 25, including 12 Revolutionary Guards, in attack on Iran military parade
DUBAI (Reuters) - Gunmen fired on a military parade in southwestern Iran on Saturday, killing 25 people, including 12 members of the Revolutionary Guards, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, in one of the worst attacks ever on the elite force.
State television said the assault, which wounded more than 60 people, targeted a stand where Iranian officials had gathered to watch an annual event marking the start of the Islamic Republic’s 1980-88 war with Iraq.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) have been the sword and shield of Shi’ite clerical rule since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Guards also play a major role in Iran’s regional interests in countries such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
A video distributed to Iranian media showed soldiers crawling on the ground as gunfire blazed in their direction.
One soldier picked up a gun and got to his feet as women and children fled for their lives.
Ali Hosein Hoseinzadeh, deputy governor in Khuzestan province, was quoted as saying the death toll was expected to rise. One of those killed was a journalist.
The bloodshed struck a blow to security in OPEC oil producer Iran, which has been relatively stable compared with neighboring Arab countries that have grappled with upheaval since the 2011 uprisings across the Middle East.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in the city of Ahvaz.
State television blamed “takfiri elements”, a reference to Sunni Muslim militants, for the attack. Ahvaz is in the center of Khuzestan province, where there have been sporadic protests by the Arab minority in predominantly Shi’ite Iran.
Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said the assault was the handiwork of “regional terror sponsors”, language that usually refers to Iran’s enemies Saudi Arabia and Israel, and “their U.S. masters”. He vowed Tehran would respond decisively.
ISNA said an unnamed spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards blamed Arab nationalists backed by Saudi Arabia for the attack.