Two Americans, a Dutch and a Swiss citizen
were killed Sunday about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Dushanbe after being struck by a car and then stabbed on a popular cycling route.
Tajikistan’s security forces killed four suspected attackers and detained one a day later. Four more suspects were also arrested on Tuesday.
The Daesh terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
However, the Tajik Interior Ministry on Tuesday blamed the country’s banned Islamic Renaissance Party for the assault and claimed the attackers’ leader had been trained in Iran.
The party’s leaders have rejected any connection to the attack and said the allegation is politically motivated.
Tehran was also quick to
condemn the terrorist assault and expressed its readiness to help Dushanbe investigate it.
On Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi that the ministry’s director general for Eurasian affairs met with the Tajik envoy in Tehran and conveyed the Islamic Republic’s strong protest over the “false and unfounded” accusation of having links to the terrorist attack.
During the session, Qassemi said, the Tajik diplomat was told that “giving a wrong address would incite and encourage the Takfiri terrorists to intensify their acts of violence.”
He criticized certain attempts in Tajikistan to create “religious divisions,” saying this would merely lead to more tensions, insecurity and terror activities.
Qassemi further warned that staying indifferent towards the Salafi-Takfiri ideology and promoting extremism are part of the plots hatched by enemies of regional peace and stability.
The Tajik ambassador was also told that Tehran is ready to share its experience on the campaign against Takfiri extremism with friendly countries in an effort to consolidate regional peace and stability, said Qassemi.
The Tajik diplomat, for his part, said that he would convey the Iranian government’s protest to the officials at his home country.
/SR
