US Media Ignored Shiraz Terrorist Attack as Opposed to Their Anti-Iran Policy, Analyst Says
Iranian security forces deploy following an armed attack at the Shah Cheragh mausoleum in the city of Shiraz on October 26, 2022.
More than a dozen people were killed and scores sustained injuries in the terrorist attack near the Shia Muslim Shahcheragh mausoleum in the Iranian city of Shiraz, capital of Fars Province, on Wednesday, Iranian media reported.The terrorist act at the Shahcheragh mausoleum and mosque complex in Shiraz, Iran, on 26 October that claimed up to 15 lives – according to various Iranian media reports – went conspicuously unnoticed by a number of western media, Iranian political analyst Emad Abshenas has emphasized.“Many media outlets covering events in Iran did not feel it necessary to mention what happened,” he told Sputnik.Abshenas is referring to the fact that the attack was sidestepped whereas footage of ongoing protests taking place in the country continued to be shown. After the 15 September death of Mahsa Amini, 22 – a woman who fell into a coma and died after being detained by Iran’s morality police for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly – a wave of protests swept the country. The unrest was fueled by western media and Iranian opposition forces alleging that Amini died from injuries sustained from police beatings, despite CCTV footage appearing to disprove the claims.Despite generally accepted laws prohibiting the media from distributing footage of terrorist brutality, US outlets still cover executions and other atrocities of various groups, the veteran Sputnik expert highlighted, adding:
“When such cases are convenient for US policy, [laws] are not respected. America thus wants to stoke Islamophobia, so it is beneficial for them to distribute such footage.”
The United States and other western countries are generally eager to cover only those facts that correspond with their policies, the Iranian political analyst stated.
“The aforementioned media do not take into account the principles of journalism, it is only important for them to create a tense information environment to bring discord into Iranian society," he said.
WorldWashington Admits to ‘Aggressive’ Meddling in Iran as Tehran Recalls 1953 Coup16 October, 18:03 GMTAbshenas recalled that even though the US continues to label the Islamic Republic the “world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism”, there are a vast majority of terrorist groups associated with the United States.”If you take the statistics, you will see that 95 percent of organizations recognized as terrorist are funded by the United States, the remaining 5 percent are also indirectly associated with them,” he explained.
WorldOver a Dozen Dead, Scores Injured After Armed Group Opens Fire Near Mausoleum in IranYesterday, 15:28 GMTRussia’s President Vladimir Putin sent his condolences to Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi after the terrorist attack in Shiraz, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
"Please accept my sincere condolences on the tragic consequences of the terrorist act committed in Shiraz. I would like to confirm the readiness of the Russian side to further forge cooperation with Iranian partners in the fight against terrorism," Putin said in a telegram post.
Raisi in turn sent his condolences to the families of the victims, and all Iranians in the wake of Wednesday’s attack, characterizing it as “another crime added to the list of atrocities committed by the enemies of the Islamic Revolution” and calling for national unity.
"Experience shows that Iran's enemies avenge their desperation, casting the stone of violence and terror to create a split in the close-knit ranks of the Iranian nation to stop the country's progress," Raisi said in televised remarks.
The president of the Islamic Republic emphasized that the “evil” act at the country’s major pilgrimage site would not go unpunished, and that “the security and law enforcement agencies, having identified all aspects of this crime, will give a crushing and instructive response to the paymasters and commanders behind this terrorist attack.”
WorldRevolutionary Guard Officer Killed During Mass Protests in East Iran – ReportsYesterday, 20:09 GMTThe country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who urged unity after the shrine attack, warned that those behind it “will surely be punished”, state television said. House Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused the social forces which generated unrest across much of Iran over the past month of “laying the groundwork for the enemy’s plots”, culminating in Wednesday’s terror attack. Terrorists had taken advantage of the atmosphere of social unrest in the country to act, said Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi.Ali Bahadori Jahromi, the Iranian government’s spokesman, said the terrorists had “killed innocent children, women and men at the Shahcheragh mosque, supported by dictatorial media that promote violence and terror”. And in his message of condolence on Wednesday evening, Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim, leader of Iraq’s National Wisdom Movement, strongly condemned the criminal act, saying:
“We sincerely offer our condolences to the leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and Muslim nation of Islamic Iran for this tragic incident, and we ask the God Almighty to bestow forbearance and patience on the bereaved families of martyrs on this irreparable loss and wish speedy recovery for the injured.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani, accused “false defenders of human rights”, who had sought to foment “precisely these scenes of violence and bloodshed of the people of Iran”. “For them, the end justifies the means,” he added, according to media.© AFP 2022 / ISNA NEWS AGENCYIranian security forces deploy following an armed attack at the Shah Cheragh mausoleum in the city of Shiraz on October 26, 2022.
Iranian security forces deploy following an armed attack at the Shah Cheragh mausoleum in the city of Shiraz on October 26, 2022.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent his deep condolences to the families of the victims and the Iranian people, according to his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.“Such acts targeting religious sites are especially heinous. The Secretary-General stresses the need to bring to justice the perpetrators of this crime against civilians exercising their right to practice their religion,” said the spokesman.Iran state television said the attack was carried out by an armed perpetrator during evening prayers at the Shahcheragh shrine, and left at least 19 people wounded. The assailant was believed to be a man “in his thirties” who had been detained by the security forces.Sputnik Persian reported that Daesh (ISIS)* has claimed responsibility for the carnage.Earlier, footage that emerged on social media showed security cam video of an attacker entering the mosque complex.Ebrahim Azizi, the deputy chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, who was at the site of the attack, told Sputnik Iran:
"The terrorist entered the Shahcheragh mosque with a firearm and from the moment he entered, he started shooting at the worshippers. As a result of this cowardly attack, 13 people were killed and 22 people were injured. The terrorist was arrested and is now in hospital because there was a struggle to arrest him, the terrorist was shot. The affiliation of this terrorist and the motives that prompted him to attack have not yet been established, an investigation is underway."
* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
