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June 9, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 2
Iran’s Rouhani under pressure to ward off instability after terror attacks
relative tranquility. As he begins his second term in office, President Hassan Rouhani will now have to actively work towards firming up his ties with foreign countries, especially European states and Russia, to ward off any further instability.
The support extended by some of Iran’s oldest foes – among them officials from the US and UK – shows just how the global community has moved in its position towards Iran since the Joint Com- prehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed by world powers under the previous US administra- tion of Barack Obama in 2015.
The attacks also coincide with a frenzy of interest from foreign investors after the lifting of nuclear sanctions; prices on the Tehran Stock Exchange slumped on the day of the attacks and unless the government manages to convince observers that they will maintain security, they could cause would-be investors to think twice.
Launched on the morning of June 7, gunmen with Kalashnikovs and pistols swept through the fourth floor of the vast parliament building in down- town Tehran, injuring and killing anyone who was unfortunate enough to be in their way, including one senior cleric, the former head of a local news agency and a woman visiting her MP.
Down in the main chamber of the parliament a session continued uninterrupted as the police and anti-terror security forces descended on the building from the northern entrance. Iranian state TV kept a rolling feed of the parliament going in the corner of its main channel whilst gunfire was heard outside.
A second cell entered the Holy Shrine of Ayatol- lah Khomeini. One killed at least one volunteer before blowing himself up in the courtyard of the complex. A woman suspected to be involved in the attack was arrested near the Khomeini shrine.
The Sunni extremist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for both attacks through its own news agency Amaq, which also published a video of its attack inside the parliament building. In that clip men believed to be speaking a dialect of North African Arabic are saying, “You cannot get rid of us, we are here to stay”.
United against terror
The attacks in Tehran have served to unify the population, liberal and conservative, following the divisive presidential election campaign. The Ira- nian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) wasted no time in blasting Riyadh for supporting Islamic State in the attacks and vowing revenge. Tying the terrorism to Donald Trump’s May visit to Saudi Arabia, during which the US president struck massive deals to deliver weapons to the Saudis, the Guards put out a statement which, according to semi-official Fars news agency, read: “World public opinion, especially in Iran, sees the fact that this terrorist act was perpetrated soon after the meeting of the US president with the heads
of one of the reactionary regional states that has always supported... terrorists as very meaning- ful... It shows that they are involved in this savage action.”
“Rightly or wrongly, the perception inside Iran is going to be that Saudi Arabia is behind the at- tack,” commented Amir Handjani, a non-fellow resident fellow at the Atlantic Council. He noted recent comments by Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who accused Tehran of wishing to “control the Muslim world”, and said conflict would happen in Iran, not in Saudi Arabia.
The attacks also came at a time of heightened tensions in the region, as Persian Gulf countries cut off air, land, sea and diplomatic links with Qatar, accusing the state of supporting Islamist