Aoun Heads to New York, Slams 'Terrorist Crime' in Iran
President Michel Aoun traveled Sunday to New York to take part in the annual meetings of the U.N. General Assembly.
Earlier in the day, Aoun sent a cable of condolences to his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani over the victims of an attack on a military parade that killed 29 people and wounded dozens.
“This terrorist crime proves that terrorism is an epidemic... and that religion is innocent of it. We in Lebanon have suffered from it and paid hefty prices,” Aoun said in the cable.
“As I share your pain, I extend my warmest condolences to you in person and through you to your people,” the president added.
The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the rare assault in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, while Iranian officials blamed "a foreign regime" backed by the United States.
Ahvaz lies in Khuzestan, a province bordering Iraq that has a large ethnic Arab community and has seen separatist violence in the past that Iran has blamed on its regional rivals.
State television gave a toll of 29 dead and 57 wounded, while the state news agency said those killed included women and children who were spectators at the parade.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/250948 |