Rouhani: Iran ‘ready to confront America’ after attack on military parade

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday that Tehran is prepared to “confront America” after an attack at a military parade killed at least 25 people. 

“America is acting like a bully toward the rest of the world … and thinks it can act based on brute force,” Rouhani said before he left for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to Reuters.

“But our people will resist and the government is ready to confront America. We will overcome this situation and America will regret choosing the wrong path,” he added, referencing sanctions that President Trump imposed on the nation this year that had been previously on hold as part of a nuclear pact between the countries.{mosads} 

Reuters noted that Rouhani placed blame on both the U.S. and American-supported Gulf states for the attack. He accused the U.S. and its Arab allies of giving both financial and military support to anti-government ethnic groups that reside in Iran. 

His comments came just a day after dozens of people died as a result of an attack by armed militants at a military parade in Tehran. At least 70 people were also injured, Reuters reported.

Multiple outlets reported that four gunmen carried out the attack and killed several members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, the nation’s elite fighting force. According to Iranian state television, the four gunmen were also killed.

The Associated Press reported that an Arab separatist group claimed responsibility for the attack and that Rouhani did not identify the perpetrators while speaking. 

“All of those small mercenary countries that we see in this region are backed by America. It is Americans who instigate them and provide them with necessary means to commit these crimes,” Rouhani said.

The attack occurred the same day Rouhani said the U.S. would suffer the “same fate” as Iraq if it challenged Iran over the country’s ballistic missile program.

“The same will happen to Trump. America will suffer the same fate as Saddam Hussein,” Rouhani said Saturday during a military parade, according to Reuters, referring to the former Iraqi leader.

Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have escalated for months since Trump pulled the U.S. out of a nuclear agreement with Iran earlier this year.