Similarly, France, Italy, Germany as well as most of the countries in the Global South expressed their condolences to the Iranian authorities.
Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard indirectly blamed Saudi Arabia for the attacks.
Five of the men who launched an attack in the heart of Iran's capital previously fought for the Islamic State group, the country's Intelligence Ministry said Thursday, acknowledging the first such assault by the extremists in the Shiite power. They came to Iran in August 2016 under the command of Abu Aysheh, a ranking commander of the Islamic State, but their plan to attack religious cities was aborted after Abu Aysheh was killed.
Several administration officials said it took most of the day [bold mine-DL] for the White House to work out the terse, curt wording of a statement that sought to show sympathy for the Iranian public even as it pointedly suggested that the behavior of Tehran's clerical leaders made its people a target. "We can not yet make a judgement and therefore we are studying the subject", Iran's intelligence minister Mahmoud Alavi said.
At least six of the attackers were killed and five others had been taken into custody.
"We have to be careful not to disrupt people's unity and cohesion with hasty judgments and childish attempts at revenge", Etemad warned. "We are here to stay, God willing".
Akbar had been heading home Wednesday and stopped at a bank to guarantee a loan for a friend when he heard the attack at parliament and rushed over to help.
Claiming responsibility for the attacks, IS released a video purporting to show gunmen inside parliament. "I saw two men shooting randomly", said one journalist at the scene, who asked not to be named.
And many Iranians inside and outside the country reacted to the attacks by posting messages and images of solidarity on social media.
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The ministry said the group returned to Iran in summer previous year under the command of an IS leader to carry out terrorist operations in religious places, and escaped when authorities broke up their cell.
The Revolutionary Guard noted in a statement that the attacks happened shortly after Trump's meeting with "one of the reactionary rulers of the region", an apparent reference to Saudi King Salman. IS has also claimed multiple attacks inside Saudi Arabia. "Iranian people reject such U.S. claims of friendship", he wrote on Twitter. The attacks were later claimed by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
Iran's Revolutionary Guards accused Riyadh and Washington of being "involved" in Wednesday's attacks, drawing a link to Trump's recent visit to Saudi Arabia.
"We won't wait for the battle to be in Saudi Arabia".
"The main door where parliamentarians enter has not been targeted", Saki said.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hit back, meanwhile, at US President Donald Trump over what he called a "repugnant" statement that Iran was reaping what it sowed.
Outspoken lawmaker Ali Motahari said on Twitter that the attacks should not put Iran on the opposite side of Arab countries.
The United States and several allies in the Middle East have been fighting against the Islamic State.
Parliament operation ended by security forces who killed the terrorists. But he warned that IS can use such "revengeful reactions" to recruit new members and continue its cycle of terror.




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