The Islamic Republic of Iran has experienced a rare terror attack amidst economic woes caused by United States sanctions as at least twenty-four people were killed on Saturday during an attack on a military parade in the city of Ahvaz southwestern province of Khuzestan
A large crowd of spectators watching the military parade had been fired upon by two gunmen who then turned their weapons on the viewing stand for official dignitaries before being shot and wounded by security forces.
The deputy governor of the province deputy Ali-Hossein Hosseinzadeh informed local and international media that eight to nine military personnel were martyred and more than 20 wounded including a woman and a child.
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Live footage aired on Al-Jazeera showed military men and people running in panic while others were lying on the floor as security forces tried to put down the armed men.
The military parade was being held to commemorate the devastating war between Iran and Saddam Hussein’s Iraq from 1980 – 1988.
Khuzestan province which borders Iraq was the major battleground in the devastating war between the neighbours that triggered the start of the Gulf war known as Operation Desert Storm; the province has a large ethnic Arab community, many of them Sunni.
The military parade marking the end of hostilities was being carried out simultaneously in major cities in Iran including the capital Tehran.
Although attacks by Kurdish rebels on military patrols along the border in mainly ethnic Kurdish areas further north are relatively common, attacks on regime targets inside major cities are far rarer.
While the attack was ongoing in Khuzestan province, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was delivering a keynote address where he vowed to boost Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities despite Western concerns that were cited by his US counterpart Donald Trump in May when he abandoned a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran.
“We will never decrease our defensive capabilities… we will increase them day by day. The fact that the missiles anger you shows they are our most effective weapons,” he said in apparent defiant of the West.
Iranian authorities have laid the blame for the attack on a militant group backed by Saudi Arabia and have vowed to respond in like manner.