New Details on the Ahvaz Attack; 30 Individuals Introduced to Khamenei and Court

Iranian parliament representatives, citing security, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies, have revealed new details about the attack on the armed forces parade in Ahvaz, stating that this incident occurred despite intelligence assessments indicating a potential terrorist attack. On Tuesday, October 1, the Iranian parliament held a closed session to investigate the dimensions of this attack, attended by senior military and intelligence officials, with some representatives disclosing details from the meeting. Gholamali Jafarzadeh Eymani Abadi, a parliament member, stated in an interview with the Arman newspaper on Wednesday (October 2) that it was mentioned in this session that 'the Ministry of Intelligence and the Ministry of Interior did not perform as well as they should have.' Eymani Abadi added, 'The terrorists rented a house 700 meters from the ceremony site five months ago and settled there. On the day of the terrorist attack, they drove their vehicle to the ceremony site.' According to this representative, prior to the attack, 'intelligence reports indicated that terrorist events would occur in Ahvaz, but ultimately there was negligence, and the security council did not act appropriately.' He also reported that 'more than 30 individuals have now been introduced to the court, dismissed, and ultimately presented to the Supreme Leader.' He stated, 'Some of these individuals were introduced to their senior commanders, and a complete report was submitted to the Leader for decision-making regarding those he must make decisions about.' Eymani Abadi also mentioned that 'intelligence monitoring and assessments were weak. During the incident, the response to the terrorists was very weak. The snipers were told to shoot but did not, under the pretext that they were not allowed to shoot. So why were they stationed on the roof?' He continued, 'It is impossible for a sniper not to have permission. If the sniper had shot at the terrorists at that time, it would have been somewhat over. The snipers were very negligent, and the command did not call for them to shoot.' Behrouz Namati, a member of the parliament's presiding board, also elaborated on other issues raised in this session, stating that 'there was definitely a security lapse in the Ahvaz incident, and some of the culprits have been dealt with, and some have also been introduced to the court.' Namati added that there was an 'apology' during this session, but did not specify which security, intelligence, or military body or official made the apology. This parliament member further stated, 'Given the country's atmosphere, with various Takfiri groups in the region, these gaps should not exist, and there should be a more serious response.' Namati mentioned the existence of 'gaps' that led to such an incident and called for a 'more serious' response in this regard. The remarks of this parliament member also implicitly confirm some reports regarding the arrest of several security and intelligence personnel related to this attack. Homayoun Yousefi, one of the representatives from Ahvaz, also called for the 'culprits of the Ahvaz terrorist incident' to be held 'accountable' without naming any agency or organization. The Iranian parliament has held several meetings and sessions in the past week to investigate the dimensions of this armed attack, one of which was organized by the 'Independent and Loyal Faction.' This session was held on Sunday with the presence of senior police commanders in parliament, and Mehrdad Baouj Lahouti, the spokesperson for this faction, announced details of the content of this session. Baouj Lahouti, based on police commanders' reports, stated that 'the terrorists who attacked the armed forces parade in Ahvaz had rented a house 500 meters from the parade site six months before the incident and had settled there.' He added, 'Some of these individuals had records and were under surveillance; however, the necessary diligence was not exercised to prevent their actions.' This parliament member further stated, 'All of this shows that the security forces, although they responded well after the incident, unfortunately were not vigilant enough before the incident, and we believe they should have been more alert.' The conservative website 'Asr Iran' also published a video report today detailing all aspects of this attack, revealing new dimensions of how protective forces formed and responded to this attack. In this video, taken from the site of the attack and the clashes on September 22, some photographers and eyewitnesses narrate their accounts of the start of the shootings and how protective forces confronted the attackers. The video elaborates on how the protective forces engaged with the attackers, stating that two attacking forces were targeted and killed by a sniper stationed in a tall building overlooking the parade site. This video remains silent about which agency the sniper was from and does not provide much explanation. It attempts to analyze and review new dimensions of this attack but does not address the 12 minutes of shooting by the attacking forces and the reasons behind it. The performance of security, intelligence, law enforcement, and military forces in confronting, controlling, and dealing with the armed attackers at the Ahvaz military parade is among the issues for which many details are still lacking. Six days ago, Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, a member of the National Security Commission of the parliament, criticized that the attackers at the military parade in Khuzestan 'shot for 12 minutes' and 'no one even shot at them.' Naqavi Hosseini stated that in two videos shown in parliament from these attacks, 'four terrorists easily shot for 12 minutes, moved around, changed their magazines, talked to each other, and no one even shot at them.' He also expressed regret that the attackers 'moved around easily during this time and even shot the wounded.' There are many ambiguities and questions regarding how this attack was organized and how protective forces reacted to it, to the extent that Ali Younesi, a former intelligence minister, has also commented on this matter. Younesi stated, 'If we do not clarify this incident well, they will say we ourselves committed the Ahvaz terrorist incident while the one killed there was Arab and the one who was killed was also Arab.' This request and statements from Younesi come at a time when Salman Samani, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, announced that 'a comprehensive report on the Ahvaz terrorist attack will be compiled after review in the National Security Council and presented to the parliament at the earliest opportunity.' It is still unclear whether the Ministry of Interior's report on this attack, which will contain more information, will be published publicly or not.