Iran blames U.S. after attack on military parade

[DonViejo]

Source: Associated Press



By ASSOCIATED PRESS 09/23/2018 07:57 AM EDT

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday that an unnamed U.S.-allied country in the Persian Gulf was behind an attack on a military parade that killed 25 people and wounded nearly 70.

Rouhani did not identify those behind Saturday’s attack, which was claimed by an Arab separatist group. He could have been referring to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates or Bahrain — close U.S. military allies that view Iran as a regional menace over its support for militant groups across the Middle East.

“All of those small mercenary countries that we see in this region are backed by America. It is Americans who instigate them and provide them with necessary means to commit these crimes,” Rouhani said.

Saturday’s attack, in which militants disguised as soldiers opened fire on an annual Iranian military parade in Ahvaz, in the oil-rich southwest, was the deadliest attack in the country in nearly a decade. Women and children scattered along with once-marching Revolutionary Guard soldiers as heavy gunfire rang out, the chaos captured live on state television.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/23/iran-attack-trump-military-parade-836914

[Stuart G]

1. Horrific. !!!

[7962]

2. Of course they do. They'd NEVER blame their unhappy citizens. nt

[ck4829]

7. "Boy wounded in Iran parade attack has died"

Iran's state TV has reported that a 4-year-old boy who was wounded during Saturday's terror attack on a military parade in the city of Ahvaz has died at a hospital.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/latest-iran-says-us-ally-behind-military-parade-072114036.html

Looks like these "unhappy citizens" are no heroes.

[7962]

8. Civilians are usually included victims in most uprisings.

And since he was part of the parade, its not a surprise

[Fred Sanders]

3. Iran Blames American Proxies!...but the not true headline has another purpose other than accuracy.

Politico...how horrific to headline a lie over a horrific loss of life. For what purpose?

[Igel]

4. Previous stories focused on loss of life.

This one focuses on

“All of those small mercenary countries that we see in this region are backed by America. It is Americans who instigate them and provide them with necessary means to commit these crimes,” Rouhani said.

The question has to be, "Is this an accurate translation, or is this an idiomatic expression, 'to instigate and provide with necessary means to commit these crimes,' that actually means 'should not be held accountable for others' actions'?"

"For what purpose?" goes to divining intent.

I don't have a goat to eviscerate for the purpose of augury, so I dunno. Perhaps to sell papers or attract clicks. Perhaps to highlight that we're still the Great Satan, even for things that we might not be responsible for--meaning that since an accusation can be true or false, the truth value of the accusation by itself is null. Perhaps to point out that scape-goating is a common way of distracting from domestic problems, whether it's the discrimination meted out by the dominant ethnicity or discrimination meted out by the dominant religion (or perhaps "intersectionality" is the appropriate word here, being Arab and Sunni in a Persian Shi'ite milieu is distinct from being either just Arab or just Sunni).

Perhaps something else. There's belief, and then there's that which is plausibly demonstrable. I see no reason to engage in an leap of faith here, so I don't bother with belief beyond, "Seems like a reasonably true quote, so unless something else comes along to actually show it's false, I'll assume it's true."

[Rizen]

5. This is scary

Where do we go from here?

[dembotoz]

6. Would you believe a trump denial?

Would anyone?