Iran says ‘jihadist separatists’ behind deadly parade attack

TEHRAN: Iran’s intelligence ministry said Tuesday that investigators had found last week’s deadly attack on a military parade in the mainly ethnic-Arab southwestern city of Ahvaz was mounted by “jihadist separatists”.

“The five members of a terrorist squad affiliated to jihadist separatist groups supported by Arab reactionary countries were identified,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its website. “The terrorists’ hideout was found and 22 people involved (in the attack) were arrested,” it said, adding that explosives were seized along with military and communications equipment. “Foreign sponsors and supporters of this terrorist act have also been identified. More information will be provided on them in due course,” the statement said.

Saudi Arabia denies any links to Iran parade attack: state media: Riyadh rejected accusations by Tehran that Saudi Arabia was behind last week’s deadly attack on a military parade in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz, state media reported Tuesday. “The kingdom completely rejects the deplorable false accusations by Iranian officials regarding the kingdom’s support for the incidents that occurred in Iran,” a foreign ministry official said, quoted by the Saudi Press Agency. “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s policy is clear regarding its non-interference in the domestic affairs of other countries,” he said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards call Trump ‘evil and adventurous’: Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards called US President Donald Trump “evil and adventurous” on Tuesday and accused him of waging economic war, as Washington’s reimposed sanctions ramped up pressure on Tehran’s economy Trump pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran in May, and has since started reinstating economic penalties and pressing other countries to stop buying Iranian oil.

The Revolutionary Guards’ rebuke came hours before Trump and Iran’s moderate President Hassan Rouhani were both due to attend a United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. Rouhani has come under increasing pressure from hardliners since Trump’s actions.