National Consultative Majlis (Parliament) building in Tehran, Photo: Mahdifa33/Wikimedia Commons
The U.S. State Department on Wednesday condemned terror attacks in Tehran, expressing condolences over loss of lives.
“The United States condemns the terrorist attacks in Tehran today. We express our condolences to the victims and their families, and send our thoughts and prayers to the people of Iran,” Spokesperson Heather Nauert said, after reports of gunfire and suicide bombings in the Iranian capital in a rare attack.
“The depravity of terrorism has no place in a peaceful, civilized world,” the spokesperson added.
The ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks that killed at least 12 people. The attackers targeted the Parliament and the tomb of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The attacks come in the midst of turmoil and conflicts in the region. The ISIS operates in both Iraq and Syria, where Iranian backed forces fight the militant organization. On the other hand, Iran is also a supporter of armed proxies fighting on behalf of the Syrian and Iraqi governments.
Meanwhile, Iran and Saudi Arabia, two of the most conservative countries, are locked in a regional rivalry. During the Barack Obama years, Tehran came out of diplomatic isolation and Iran claimed that it had gained strategic superiority over the Saudis. Both are widely held responsible for rise of militancy in the Middle Eastern region.
President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia and his administration’s tough stance on Tehran has signaled that Saudi Arabia might have secured some of the lost clout in the region.
The sectarian dimension to the Saudi-Iranian regional rivalry is perceived as terribly dangerous for the Middle Eastern Muslims, who are reeling under multiple ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and denial of basic political freedoms.
