(Bloomberg) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused a U.S. Gulf Arab ally of supporting the gunmen who killed at least 29 people in an attack on a military parade and vowed to respond “within the framework of the law.”
“One of the southern countries in the Persian Gulf is backing them financially, providing equipment and political support,” Rouhani said. “The small puppet countries in the region are backed by the U.S. and it’s the U.S. that provokes them.”
While he didn’t name the country, the remarks are likely aimed at regional rival Saudi Arabia, which is backing President Donald Trump’s drive to isolate Iran and re-impose crippling sanctions against its economy. The two Middle East nations are stuck in proxy confrontations in some of the region’s worst conflicts from Yemen to Syria.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry also signaled that the individuals behind the Ahvaz shooting may have had ties to some European countries.
The ambassadors of the Netherlands and Denmark as well as the chargé d’affaires at the British embassy in Tehran were summoned separately on Saturday evening over the Ahvaz shooting, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Iran had previously warned about “members of these terrorist groups” residing in Denmark and Netherlands and had called for their arrest and trial, IRNA reported, citing Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi.
The Saturday attack occurred at a military parade as gunmen opened fire, killing dozens Revolutionary Guards members and civilians, including a child and a journalist. The shooting was one of the worst militant attacks in the country’s modern history. Both Islamic State militants and an Arab group in the area have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Ahvaz is the capital of the Khuzestan province, which borders Iraq and is home to a large Sunni population and some of the country’s largest oil fields. Armed groups have engaged in sporadic clashes with security forces in the region. Iran is dominated by Shiite Muslims.
--With assistance from Golnar Motevalli.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Dubai at lnasseri@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, ;Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Christopher Elser
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
Advertisement