In the last few hours, there was an attack on a military parade in Ahvaz in Iran. The parade is an annual event run by the government. The attack was carried out by a group of men dressed as Iranian soldiers. They sprayed gunfire into the soldiers marching by, into the grandstand holding government officials, and into the crowd watching the parade. As of now, there are 24 confirmed dead, but that death toll is likely to rise. There has been unrest inside Iran for the last year, but this is the first mass attack of this sort as far as we know.
It is unknown who carried out the attack. Most likely, it is a group of local separatist Iranian Arabs who have been sabotaging oil pipelines and facilities. It could also be a dissident group, although one would think that these attackers would focus more on the soldiers and the government officials and not on the crowd. We may learn more as the day progresses.
I was struck though by the Iranian government announcement that blamed the attack on terrorists "recruited by foreign powers" especially the USA. No matter what happens in Iran that is bad, the government blames the USA. It's bizarre. While I'm sure that the US government would not be unhappy were there to be regime change in Iran, I'm also sure that the US did not organize a terrorist attack on a military parade. I'm also sure that none of the other governments in the region did that either. Indeed, this sort of attack sounds more like something the Iranian government would do than something from outside Iran.
One does have to wonder if this attack is just the first of many. Is Iran going to be hit by a wave of the sort of terrorism that it supports abroad? Is there going to be an uprising there? Is this just a one-off? The answer has profound implications for many nations, not just Iran. For example, were the Iranians to perceive a threat to their government, they might withdraw their forces from Syria and bring them home to guard Teheran.
It is unknown who carried out the attack. Most likely, it is a group of local separatist Iranian Arabs who have been sabotaging oil pipelines and facilities. It could also be a dissident group, although one would think that these attackers would focus more on the soldiers and the government officials and not on the crowd. We may learn more as the day progresses.
I was struck though by the Iranian government announcement that blamed the attack on terrorists "recruited by foreign powers" especially the USA. No matter what happens in Iran that is bad, the government blames the USA. It's bizarre. While I'm sure that the US government would not be unhappy were there to be regime change in Iran, I'm also sure that the US did not organize a terrorist attack on a military parade. I'm also sure that none of the other governments in the region did that either. Indeed, this sort of attack sounds more like something the Iranian government would do than something from outside Iran.
One does have to wonder if this attack is just the first of many. Is Iran going to be hit by a wave of the sort of terrorism that it supports abroad? Is there going to be an uprising there? Is this just a one-off? The answer has profound implications for many nations, not just Iran. For example, were the Iranians to perceive a threat to their government, they might withdraw their forces from Syria and bring them home to guard Teheran.
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