Iranian Speaker Urges Uncovering All Aspects of New Zealand Terror Attack
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani deplored the “savage” terrorist attack in New Zealand that killed dozens of Muslims, calling on the Foreign Ministry to pursue the issue through Islamic organizations.
“I express my condolences to Muslims around the world over this savage terrorist attack,” Larijani said, addressing an open session of the parliament on Sunday.
“Of course, for years, the behavior and ideas that are propagated in Europe are about fearing Muslims and the Islamic thought (and they) sometimes bring about such results,” he said.
“However, we have doubts that the incident had only racist reasons,” Larijani said, adding, “It may have more (reasons) behind the scenes and some governments may have had a role in It.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry should pursue the issue by asking the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation and the secretary-general of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States to pursue the issue and uncover the root causes of the terrorist attack, he went on to say.
At least one gunman killed 50 people and wounded more than 40 during Friday prayers at two New Zealand mosques in the country’s worst ever mass shooting, which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern condemned as terrorism.
A gunman broadcast livestream footage on Facebook of the attack on one mosque in the city of Christchurch, mirroring the carnage played out in video games, after publishing a “manifesto” in which he denounced immigrants, calling them “invaders”.
New Zealand was placed on its highest security threat level, Ardern said, adding that “this can now only be described as a terrorist attack”.
The number of people killed in the massacre rose to 50 when another body was discovered at the Al Noor mosque, where most of the victims were killed.