Iranian Army Spokesman Claims Ahvaz Military Parade Attackers Linked To US, Israel

Iranian Armed Forces spokesman, Brig. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, said that the militants who had committed a terrorist attack on a military parade in the Iranian city of Ahvaz on Saturday were linked to the United States and Israel.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2018) Iranian Armed Forces spokesman, Brig. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, said that the militants who had committed a terrorist attack on a military parade in the Iranian city of Ahvaz on Saturday were linked to the United States and Israel.

The attack in the Iranian city of Ahvaz occurred on Saturday morning. During the military parade, unknown people opened fire. The Saudi-linked Patriotic Arab Democratic Movement in Ahwaz has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

"These terrorists are not members of the IS [Islamic State terrorist group, banned in Russia] and do not belong to groups fighting the Islamic system. These people are linked to the United States and [Israeli intelligence service] Mossad. These militants were organized and trained by two countries of the Persian Gulf," Shekarchi told IRNA in an interview.

The spokesman added that the servicemen had killed all four militants who committed the attack.

Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused "regional terror sponsors and their US masters" of organizing the attack.

The death toll in the terrorist attack reached 28 people, deputy chairman of the Iranian parliament's defense committee Abu Fadel Bigi told Sputnik.

"The death toll is 28, the number of injured has reached 60," the official said, noting that three attackers were killed on the spot, and the others died in the hospital. According to him, the terrorists received the support from Saudi Arabia and the Mossad.

He also stated that the terrorists had arrived to Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan.

"The terrorist group that launched the attack came from Iraqi Kurdistan ... The terrorist group was from the groups that the Iranian Armed Forces had attacked some time ago in Iraqi Kurdistan," the parliamentarian said.

Ahvaz is located in southern Iran near the border with Iraqi southern provinces. The city's residents are mostly people of Arab origin. Iraqi Kurdistan is located in northeastern Iran.