AHVAZ, Iran -- Amid wails and vows of revenge, thousands of Iranians on Monday attended a mass funeral service for victims of a weekend attack targeting a military parade that killed at least 25 people.
The dead from Saturday's attack in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, blamed on Arab separatists, ranged from a disabled war hero to a 4-year-old boy. The assault killed members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, including conscripts, wounded over 60 others and further ratcheted up tensions across the Persian Gulf ahead of this week's United Nations General Assembly.
The father of 4-year-old victim Mohammad Taha lay atop his son's flag-draped coffin sobbing, a public display of grief near the Sarallah Mosque in Ahvaz, the capital of Iran's oil-rich province of Khuzestan.
Women in long black chadors held back tears while rhythmically striking their chests, a traditional way of showing grief. Mourners also played drums, cymbals and horns, according to local customs.
Of the 25 killed, 12 were from Ahvaz and the rest from elsewhere in Khuzestan.
As crowds flowed down Ahvaz's streets, cries of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" rose from the mourners. While a traditional chant in the years since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, it has taken on a new meaning as Iranian officials have blamed the U.S. and its regional allies for backing the separatists, who carried out the assault while disguised in military uniforms.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the attack showed Iran has "a lot of enemies," according to remarks posted on his website, in which he linked the attackers to the U.S., Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
"Definitely, we will harshly punish the operatives" behind the terror attack, he added.
Speaking at the funeral, the Guard's acting commander, Gen. Hossein Salami, vowed revenge against the perpetrators and what he called the "triangle" of Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States.
"You are responsible for these actions; you will face the repercussions," the general said. "We warn all of those behind the story, we will take revenge."
In the U.S., Defense Secretary James Mattis noted to reporters that President Donald Trump's administration had condemned the attack. "It's ludicrous to allege that we might have had anything to do with it," he said.
Mattis also said he wasn't concerned by Iranian talk of revenge. "We've been very clear that they shouldn't take us on like that, and I'm hopeful that cooler, wiser heads will prevail," he said.
Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavai told the mourners that his agency had identified many suspects involved in the attack and "a majority of them were detained."
"We will punish the terrorists, one by one," he promised the crowd.
Arab separatists in the region claimed the attack, and Iranian officials have blamed them for the assault. The separatists accuse Iran's Persian-dominated government of discriminating against its ethnic Arab minority. Khuzestan province also has seen recent protests over Iran's nationwide drought, as well as economic protests.
President Hassan Rouhani has accused an unnamed U.S.-allied regional country of supporting the attackers. Iran's Foreign Ministry also summoned Western diplomats and an envoy from the United Arab Emirates, accusing them of providing havens for the Arab separatists.
Rouhani's remarks could refer to Saudi Arabia, the UAE or Bahrain -- close U.S. military allies that view Iran as a regional menace, in part because of its support for militant groups across the Middle East.
The attack comes as Iran's economy reels in the wake of the U.S. reimposing sanctions lifted by Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. Iran's national currency has gone from trading at 62,000 rials to one U.S. dollar to as much as 150,000.
At Monday's funeral, however, those attending rallied around the Iranian government and its soldiers. Cries and wails broke out at the sight of the coffin of a local hero, 54-year-old Hossein Monjazi, a disabled war veteran and Revolutionary Guard member who had lost a leg and a hand in the 1980s Iraq-Iran war.
Mahmoud Falaki, a teacher attending the funerals, said the ceremony showed Iranians "are always ready to sacrifice ourselves for our country. The terrorists are a bunch of cowards."
Another Ahvaz resident, Ghaseem Farhani, said: "Just look at the crowd, with no fear, people are gathered here to see their soldiers and martyrs off to heaven."
Information for this article was contributed by Jon Gambrell and Lolita C. Baldor of The Associated Press.
A Section on 09/25/2018