Iran says it killed mastermind behind deadly military parade attack
Guard corps claim man named Abu Zaha was Islamic State leader in Diyala province, planned assault in which 24 died
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said Tuesday it had killed the planner behind an attack on a military parade in the southwestern city of Ahvaz last month.
In a statement published by state media the Guards said that a man named Abu Zaha was the Islamic State leader in Diyala province and was the “mastermind” who planned the September 22 shooting in which 24 people were killed, nearly half of them members of the IRGC.
Four other “terrorists” were also killed in the operation, the Guards said, according to a report by the semi-official Fars News Agency.
On Monday an Iranian official said that a member of the armed forces had been arrested and 11 other military personnel were questioned in connection with the Ahvaz attack.
Militants disguised as soldiers opened fire on the annual Iranian military parade, killing 24 people and wounding over 60 others.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility and later posted a video of men it said were the attackers.
Iranian authorities have blamed “jihadist separatists” for the assault claiming they were backed by Gulf Arab allies of the United States.