24 killed as gunmen open fire on Iranian military parade
Tehran, Sep 22: At least 24 people, including civilians were killed and over 50 injured when gunmen disguised as soldiers opened fire on an elite military parade in the Iranian city of Ahvaz on Saturday.
The dead and wounded were both military personnel and civilians, including a journalist watching the parade, IRNA news agency reported. The attackers opened fire on the parade at 9 a.m. from a nearby park in an assault that lasted around 10 minutes.
The parade was part of nationwide celebrations in Iran to mark the 30th anniversary since the end of the eight-year war with Iraq that started in September 1980 and ended in August 1988.
"The terrorists disguised as Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and Basiji (volunteer) forces opened fire to the authority and people from behind the stand during the parade," said Governor of Khuzestan Gholam-Reza Shariati, according to IRNA.
The separatist group the Patriotic Arab Democratic Movement in Ahwaz claimed responsibility for this attack.
The group is supported by "foreign antagonists," including Saudi Arabia, the agency said.
Three of the attackers were gunned down during clashes with the security forces and one other arrested, news agencies reported.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif blamed "a foreign regime" backed by the US for the attack. "Terrorists recruited, trained, armed and paid by a foreign regime have attacked Ahvaz," he said in a tweet, adding: "Iran holds regional terror sponsors and their US masters accountable for such attacks."
Earlier, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani used the occasion of the military parade to compare US President Donald Trump to the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, according to Press TV.
Speaking at a military rally in Tehran, he said Trump will fail in the "economic and psychological war" he's launched against Iran, just as Hussein failed in his 8-year war against the Islamic Republic".
"Iran will neither abandon its defensive weapons nor will reduce its defence capabilities," Rouhani said.
"Rather it will increase its defence power day by day. The fact that they are angry at our missiles shows that these are the most influential weapons Iran has."
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Hamas accepts cease-fire proposal for Gaza, but Israel's stance still uncertain
Jerusalem, May 6: Hamas announced Monday it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but there was no immediate word from Israel, leaving it uncertain whether a deal had been sealed to bring a halt to the seven-month-long war in Gaza.
It was the first glimmer of hope that a deal might avert further bloodshed. Hours earlier, Israel ordered some 100,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating the southern Gaza town of Rafah, signalling that an attack was imminent. The United States and other key allies of Israel oppose an offensive on Rafah, where around 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half of Gaza's population, are sheltering.
An official familiar with Israeli thinking said Israeli officials were examining the proposal, but the plan approved by Hamas was not the framework Israel proposed.
An American official also said the US was still waiting to learn more about the Hamas position and whether it reflected an agreement to what had already been signed off on by Israel and international negotiators or something else. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as a stance was still being formulated.
Details of the proposal have not been released. Touring the region last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had pressed Hamas to take the deal, and Egyptian officials said it called for a cease-fire of multiple stages starting with a limited hostage release and some Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza. The two sides would also negotiate a “permanent calm” that would lead to a full hostage release and greater Israeli withdrawal, they said.
