TEHRAN – Tens of thousands of mourners attended a funeral on Monday in thesouthwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz for soldiers and civilians killed in anattack on a military parade.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the attackers were “funded by”Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in his latest remarks afterhaving already blamed “American lackeys” for the assault.
Four militants attacked the Saturday parade commemorating the start of the1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, spraying the crowd with gunfire and killing 24people.
Iranian officials blamed Arab separatists, backed by Gulf Arab allies ofthe US, for the attack.
AFP reporters on Monday saw members of the public and the military carryingcoffins draped in the Iranian flag, some bearing pictures of those slain.
The mourners, mostly wearing black, also carried pictures of the dead alongwith banners reading “we will stand to the end” and “no to terrorism”.
Under the blazing sun, crowds streamed in from all four main streetsleading into the city-centre square where the funeral was held, three ofthem dedicated to men and the fourth to women.
In the square itself, also segregated, a woman dressed in the traditionalArab-style chador wailed loudly and held a picture of her son, RezaShoaibi, a conscript who was among the dead.
As the funeral progressed, her wailing and expressions of sorrow steadilygrew louder until she fainted.
The heat became so intolerable that trucks sprayed water onto the crowd astemperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius (105 fahrenheit).
Mourners waved red, green and black flags with revolutionary messages, aswell as the flags of Arab tribes from the surrounding Khuzestan region.
Khamenei said those behind the “terrorist attack” were funded by SaudiArabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“Based on reports, this cowardly act was the work of those very individualswho are rescued by the Americans whenever they are in trouble in Iraq andSyria and who are funded by the Saudis and the (United) Arab Emirates,” hesaid in remarks posted on his website.
He did not give any further details on their identity.
None of Khuzestan’s Arab separatist groups are known to have a presence inSyria.
London-based opposition channel Iran International TV on Saturday broadcasta claim of responsibility for the attack from a movement called the “AhvazNational Resistance”.
The Islamic State group also claimed responsibility.
The United States vowed to keep exerting pressure on Iran and said newsanctions were in the pipeline while insisting it was not seeking theoverthrow of its regime.
“As I have said repeatedly, regime change in Iran is not theadministration’s policy,” said White House national security adviser JohnBolton.
– ‘Devastating’ revenge –
Khuzestan, which has a large ethnic Sunni Arab community, was a majorbattleground of the 1980s war with Iraq and it saw unrest in 2005 and 2011.
Kurdish rebels frequently attack military patrols on the border furthernorth, but attacks on government targets in major cities are rare.
Monday’s ceremony began in front of the square’s Sarallah Mosque withspeeches by generals and security officials.
Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi said arrests had already been made.
“The terrorists themselves have perished, our agents will identify theirremnants and supporters to the last man. A major part of them have alreadybeen arrested,” he told the crowd.
After the speeches ended, a famous wartime religious singer chanted songsof lamentation as thousands beat their chests in unison, a traditionalmourning practice of Shiite Muslims.
Later, the coffins were transported to the city cemetery and laid to rest.
The dead ranged from a preschool boy to a wheelchair-bound war veteran.
Pictures of women and children scrambling to find cover evoked an emotionalresponse from Iranians.
Abdolzahra Savari, an ethnic Arab who had attended the funeral, called theattackers infidels.
“These are ruthless people with no shred of humanity in them,” he said.
Sabah Abiad, a middle-aged bank employee who attended the funeral, said theunity among the region’s different groups was self-evident.
“As you can see now, all of the people, whether they’re Lor, Arab,Shushtari or Dezfuli, are all here today and all say death to theterrorists,” he told AFP.
Iran holds regular military parades to mark national anniversaries and showoff its latest military hardware, notably missiles.
This year’s parades had special significance as tensions with the UnitedStates have peaked since the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in Mayand began to re-impose unilateral economic sanctions on Tehran.
Iran’s presence in Syria has also triggered rising tensions with Israel.