Iran Blames Saudi Arabia for Terrorist Attacks

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has accused Saudi Arabia of being linked to yesterday's attacks in Tehran, which claimed the lives of 13 people and injured more than 50.

Zarif's comments — indirect accusations about tyrants and a mercenary hatred for Iran — contrasted with those from the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, who downplayed the incidents and dismissed them as an exercise is “fumbling with firecrackers.”  

Speaking to a group of students, Khamenei said, ”The Iranian people are moving forward. Today’s fumbling with firecrackers will not affect the willpower of the people. Everyone must realize this. The terrorists are too small to affect the will of the Iranian people and the authorities. This also reveals that if the Islamic Republic had not resisted...we would have had much more trouble of this sort in the country. God willing, they will bite the dust."

Of course, Ayatollah Khamenei was not the only one hoping to dismiss what happened in the capital. He was not the only one portraying it as inconsequential, and meriting little concern or even attention. Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, had the same approach, describing the attacks as “a minor incident.” In fact, while the attack on parliament was underway, some politicians took selfies of themselves smiling and unaffected, and then posted them online. The impression they were trying to achieve? This attack was no big deal, of no particular importance. They were conducting their business as usual. In a slightly more formal manner, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani issued a message today, claiming that the terrorists had failed to achieve their goals.

But Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif adopted a different tone. He blamed Saudi Arabia, albeit implicitly. “Proxies attack what their masters despise most: the seat of democracy,” he announced. Posting on Twitter, he stated that tyrants who support terror had threatened to bring the battle to Iran — and that was what their mercenaries had done.

“We know we are a main target of Iran,” Saudi Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud had said on May 2 an interview. “We will not wait for it to become a battle in Saudi Arabia. We will work to make it a battle for Iran.” Now Foreign Minister Zarif has responded to those comments, placing the blame for yesterday’s attacks on them. 

The Revolutionary Guards also weighed in. Citing US President Donald Trump’s recent visit to the Middle East, the Guards said that it was very significant that the attacks had occurred just one week after the meeting between the US president and the head of a “reactionary” government in the region that has always supported “Takfiri” terrorists — meaning a Muslim who accuses other Muslims of apostasy. Iran has always accused Saudi Arabia of supporting this brand of aggressor.

The “Repugnant” Message of Sympathy

“We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote," President Trump said in a very short message on June 7 following the attacks —  suggesting that Iran brought the attacks upon itself, and at odds with the official US State Department comment, which condemned the attacks and expressed “condolences to the victims and their families.” Zarif was back on Twitter with a swift response to Trump: “Repugnant WH statement & Senate sanctions as Iranians counter terror backed by US clients,” he wrote, the phrase “US client” a thinly-veiled reference to the arms deal between Saudi Arabia and the US solidified during Trump’s visit to the kingdom.

Immediately after suggestions that Saudis could have been behind the attack, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir denied the accusation and said there was no evidence Saudi extremists were involved. "We condemn terrorist attacks anywhere they occur and we condemn the killing of the innocent anywhere it occurs," he said.

Also controversial and much-discussed was the nationality of the terrorists responsible for the attack. Reza Seifollahi, deputy to the secretary of Iran’s High National Security Council, said in a television broadcast that the assailants were Iranians who had joined ISIS and had “worked with ISIS in the areas under its control in the region.” He did not specify any region in Iran, but there have been some reports in domestic media that a number of Kurds have joined ISIS. In the video published yesterday on Amaq, the ISIS news website, a person is heard speaking a few words in Kurdish.

Questions remain about the number of terrorists that were involved. Iran’s Interior Ministry has put the number at six but the Revolutionary Guards announced that five attackers were involved, a number confirmed by ISIS itself.

Aladdin Broujerdi, the head of parliament’s National Security Committee, has reported that a woman working with the terrorists has been apprehended. And the Intelligence Ministry reported that other terrorist attacks had been prevented and members of other terror groups had been arrested.

Over the coming days, further questions, details, speculations, claims, and accusations will no doubt emerge, followed by counterclaims, corrections, clarifications, and denials. It's hard to know how the messages will change, and to what level diplomatic and political tensions will escalate.