Iran blames US and Gulf allies for Ahvaz parade attack

Iranian officials have blamed Gulf states and the United States for Saturday's attack on a military parade that killed 29 people, and accused them of backing the Arab separatist 'al-Ahvaziya' armed group, which claimed responsibility for the killings, Al Jazeera reports.

President Hassan Rouhani vowed to deliver a  "crushing response", while Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei linked the attack with the United States and its "allies in the region".

"This crime is a continuation of the plots of the regional states that are puppets of the United States, and their goal is to create insecurity in our dear country," Khamenei said in a statement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said "regional terror sponsors" were responsible for the attack, adding he held "their US masters accountable".

"Terrorists recruited, trained, armed & paid by a foreign regime have attacked Ahvaz," Zarif said in a tweet, adding: "Iran holds regional terror sponsors and their US masters accountable for such attacks.