TEHRAN — Ali Akbar Velayati, the Secretary-General of the World Assembly of Islamic Awakening, issued a statement on Sunday condemning the criminal terrorist attack on the Risaldar Mosque in Peshawar, in northwestern Pakistan.

Referring to the crimes of extremist and terrorist groups, including Daesh, against the oppressed people of the region, Velayati also said, “The Americans have repeatedly and officially admitted that they were the founders and supporters of these groups such as Daesh, and therefore they have a share in the occurrence of these crimes and other catastrophes and sufferings in the region, which is unprecedented in history.”

He added that according to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, the roots of the crisis in the region must be searched in the Americans’ incitements.

“Through the resistance of the oppressed people of the region and the bravery and self-sacrifice of the commanders and soldiers of the Resistance Front, including martyr Soleimani as the international face of fight against terrorism, their sinister plans in the region were aborted,” the veteran politician remarked.

The former foreign minister went on to say that today “America is isolated more than ever.”

Velayati said Pakistani people will respond to these barbaric acts and that terrorists will fail to achieve their vicious goals. 

“The people of Pakistan will respond to such barbaric acts and terrorist groups. Despite their barbaric crimes, massacres, killings and martyrdom of oppressed people, including children and teenagers, men and women, old and young, the oppressors will not be able to achieve their shameful goals, and victory will be for the resistance front and the oppressed people of the region,” Velayati remarked.

Pakistani police investigators said on Saturday that they had identified the suicide bomber and the network behind the deadly blast on Friday at the Risaldar Mosque  that left at least 63 dead and nearly 200 wounded.

Thirty-seven people remained hospitalized, with five in critical condition, according to Muhammad Asim Khan, the spokesman for Peshawar’s largest hospital, Lady Reading.

The Islamic State’s regional affiliate, Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was carried out by an Afghan suicide bomber, whom the militant group identified as Julaibeed al-Kabuli.

Pakistani security officials said that the name was an alias and that they had identified the attacker and his family. Muhammad Ali Saif, a special assistant to the provincial chief minister, said at a news conference on Saturday that “the rest of the network will be exposed in the next 48 hours.” 

Other security officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case and continuing investigations, said the bomber was an Afghan national who had migrated to Pakistan decades ago and lived in the country along with his family. The officials said the bomber’s parents had informed the police of their son’s disappearance and suspected he had joined ISIS.

Investigators say the bomber trained in Afghanistan and appeared to have returned recently, the New York Times reported on Saturday.