TEHRAN – A number of Iranian lawmakers emphasized the need for national unity and security during the Sunday session of the parliament, state news agency IRNA reported. 

The lawmakers also condemned the terrorist attack at the Shiraz Shah-e Cheragh shrine. The attack took place on Wednesday at Maghrib prayer time, when a terrorist opened fire at the pilgrims with his AK-47 rifle, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens of others. The attack prompted national grief and sorrow amid a continued wave of unrest that, some believe, paved the way for Daesh to carry out its heinous assault.

The funeral for the victims of the attack was held on Saturday. Thousands of Iranians gathered in Shiraz to bid farewell to the victims of the Daesh-claimed terrorist attack. Iran’s top military officials, both from the IRGC and the conventional army, attended the funeral. At the ceremony, IRGC chief commander General Hossein Salami delivered an ardent speech in which he pondered over the roots of unrest and riots in Iran.

General Salami said the Biden administration, together with its allies in the region, stand behind the unrest. Addressing Iranian youth, the general said Biden isn’t directly ordering Iranian youth to take to the streets. Instead, the general said, Biden is using complex ways to instigate unrest in Iran, including through the media. The IRGC chief said the unrest was planned in American and Israeli think tanks.

In the Sunday session of the parliament, some lawmakers also hinted at the West’s role in the Shah-e Cheragh attack. Lawmaker Mojtaba Yousefi said, “Such an incident by individuals who don’t show mercy for a little kid and a defenseless mother is indicative of the nature of their democracy.”

He also linked the Shah-e Cheragh attack with the unrest, saying that the Islamic political system of Iran accepts protests but rioters are different from protesters. “The Shiraz disaster was the result of the behavior of those who don’t want the country to enjoy security.” 

Alireza Salimi, another lawmaker who is member of the parliament presiding board, castigated those who have been vocal on other matters but remained silent on the Shiraz attack. 

He also pointed to the targeting of a member of the security forces in Tehran and said, “The torture and the heartbreaking martyrdom of the security defender showed that the freedom they are talking about is torture, murder, lies, etc., and some took positions on various issues and did not even sigh.”

Iran has been grappling with a wave of unrest that erupted in the wake of the death of Mahsa Amini. Iranian authorities said they accepted protests over the Amini death but the protests turned into riots. 

In an early October speech, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said that the United States and Israel exploited the death of Mahsa Amini to stage riots in Iran and if this incident had not taken place, they would have found another pretext to do what they did. 

“These riots were planned. These riots had been planned. If the incident with the young girl had not taken place, they would have found another excuse to create insecurity and riots in the country in the beginning of the month of Mehr (September) this year. Who designed these plans? I openly state that these schemes were designed by the US, the usurping, fake, Zionist regime, and their mercenaries. They sat down and planned. They devised these schemes. Their employees, mercenaries, wage earners, and some treasonous Iranians abroad helped them,” the Leader said.

Last week, two of Iran’s intelligence agencies issued a lengthy statement saying that the U.S. and its allies are behind the unrest in Iran.