In the morning of June 7, two groups of armed terrorists attacked the Iranian parliament building and Ayatollah Khomeini’s mausoleum in Tehran. The responsibility for the attack, which resulted in several deaths, was taken by ISIS terrorist group (banned in Russia by court order). Elena Dunaeva, Senior research fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, commented on the events in Tehran in an interview with valdaiclub.com.
“The attack against the Iranian parliament and the terrorist act near the tomb of Imam Khomeini is, of course, a blow to the very heart of Iran, and the blow is very strong and very tough,” Dunaeva said. “The purpose of this attack is to demonstrate that Iran is not fully protected. It is also quite clear that this is an answer to Iran’s active resistance to the ISIS forces in Syria, Iraq, and its policy of opposing radicalism in the Middle East in general, particularly in Yemen.”
Until recently, Iran was the most stable country in the Middle East, the expert said. “Thanks to the organization and resolve of the regime and the actions of its security forces, penetration of subversive elements into the country was not allowed. Those individual terrorist acts that did take place occurred in the border areas of Iran, on the borders with Iraq and Pakistan. They were mainly connected with the nationalistic sentiments of the ethnic groups inhabiting these areas.”
According to Dunaeva, the terrorist attacks in Iran took place as importance and prestige of the country in the international arena was growing. “Recently, after liberation of parts of Iraqi territory from ISIS, a direct corridor from Iran to Syria and the Mediterranean coast was opened. On the other hand, the events around Qatar immediately raised Iran’s prestige and strengthened its position. One of the richest countries in the region said that it is possible to develop relations with Iran. Before that, Iran was completely isolated from most of the Persian Gulf states, and the attack against Iran is also a reaction to these events,” she pointed out.
