Vice-President calls Iran victim of Western-backed terrorism

“A look at terrorist acts in Iran, it is revealed that most of the attacks in the country have taken place with the direct or indirect support provided by the Western countries,” Shahidi Mahallati said in a speech on Saturday.

Due to various reasons and motives, especially for political purposes, the countries have tried to create serious problems for Iran in scientific, economic and social areas by supporting terrorist and opposition groups, the cleric noted.

However, he added, the plots by the Western countries to harm the Iranian nation and hamper its progress have remained futile.

Iran has been targeted by many abhorrent terrorist attacks in the past, including the shooting down of an Iranian passenger plane over the Persian Gulf by the US Navy in July 1988, and a deadly bomb attack by US-backed elements that killed scores of senior Iranian officials in Tehran in 1981.

On June 28, 1981, members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), blew up the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party in Tehran, killing 72 ranking officials, including Head of Supreme Judicial Council Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti.

Around 17,000 Iranians have fallen victim to terrorist attacks since the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

/SR