Iran foreign minister says Trump reaction to Teheran attacks 'repugnant'

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks during give a joint press conference with Netherland's Foreign Minister Bert Koenders (unseen) in the capital Teheran, on Sept 20, 2015. PHOTO: AFP

TEHERAN (AFP) - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday (June 8)that US President Donald Trump's reaction to the deadly Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group attacks in Teheran was "repugnant".

"Repugnant WH (White House) statement... as Iranians counter terror backed by US clients," Zarif tweeted.

He was responding to Trump's comment that "states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote".

Thirteen people were killed and more than 40 wounded in the attacks on Tehran's parliament complex and the shrine of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the first claimed by ISIS in Iran.

Trump has long accused Iran of backing terrorism and has threatened to tear up a 2015 nuclear deal between Teheran and major powers. Even as Washington expressed its condolences on Wednesday, the US Senate advanced legislation that would impose new sanctions on Iran, partly for what the bill described as the Iranian regime's "support for acts of international terrorism".

Iranian security officials counter that it is their regional rival Saudi Arabia - a close US ally - that is responsible for funding and spreading the extremism that underpins ISIS.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards accused Riyadh and Washington of being "involved" in Wednesday's attacks and vowed revenge.

Trump's comments also brought criticism from Iranians on social media, who recalled their government's offers of support and the candlelight vigils held in Iran after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

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