Iran's Revolutionary Guard vows to avenge Ahvaz attack

Iran's Revolutionary Guard vows to avenge Ahvaz attack
Those behind an attack on a military parade will face "deadly and unforgiving revenge in the near future", Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said in a statement on Sunday.
2 min read
24 September, 2018
Four militants attacked a Saturday military parade killing at least 25 people [AFP]
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps vowed on Sunday that a "deadly and unforgiving revenge" awaits those behind Saturday's terror attack on a military parade.

The IRGC said in a statement that it was willing to pursue the attackers "regionally and beyond" and promised a response "in the near future".

Four militants attacked a military parade in the city of Ahvaz near the Iraqi border on Saturday, killing at least 25 people.

It was the deadliest such attack in Iran in nearly a decade.

A news agency close to the Guard said at least eight of its members were killed in the attack.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pointed blame for the deadly attack at Arab separatists and accused an unnamed US-backed Gulf state of supporting them.

Officials and an eyewitness said the gunmen were clad in Iranian military uniforms and had sprayed the crowd with gunfire using weapons they had stashed in a nearby park.

The Islamic State jihadist group claimed responsibility for the rare assault.

But Iranian authorities see an Arab separatist movement, the Ahwazi Democratic Popular Front (ADPF) or Al-Ahwazi, as the main suspect.

"One of the countries in the south of the Persian Gulf took care of their financial, weaponry and political needs," Rouhani said.

"All these little mercenary countries we see in this region are backed by America. It is the Americans who incite them."

In September, Iran's Revolutionary launched a missile attack targeting Kurdish separatists meeting in Iran, killing at least 11 people and wounding 50.

Agencies contributed to this report.