The Latest: Iran: 24 dead, 53 wounded in parade attack

The Latest on attack on Iranian military parade(all times local):

1:25 p.m.

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency says 24 people are dead and 53 wounded in an attack on a military parade in the country's oil-rich southwest.

The agency cited "knowledgeable sources" without elaborating. It said gunmen were dressed in Guard uniforms and targeted a riser where military and police commanders were sitting.

The attack left at least eight members of the country's elite Revolutionary Guard dead and 20 others wounded, local media reported.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault in Ahvaz, which saw gunfire spray into a crowd of marching Guardsmen, bystanders and government officials watching from a nearby riser

___

11:50 a.m.

Iran's foreign minister is blaming regional countries and their "U.S. masters" for an attack on a military parade that killed at least eight people.

Mohammad Javad Zarif on Twitter also warned that "Iran will respond swiftly and decisively in defense of Iranian lives" after the attack in Ahvaz.

Zarif said that children and journalists were casualties in the attack.

He added that the gunmen were "terrorists recruited, trained, armed & paid by a foreign regime."

He did not immediately elaborate. However, Arab separatist groups in the region have launched attacks on oil pipelines there.

___

10:30 a.m.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency says at least eight members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard have been killed in the Ahvaz military parade attack.

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency says 20 people were wounded, including a woman and a child. The agency did not elaborate.

State TV earlier described the gunmen as "Takfiri gunmen," a term previously used to describe the Islamic State group.

Ahvaz is the capital of Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan province, which has seen attacks on oil pipelines by Arab separatists.

___

10:15 a.m.

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency says 20 people have been wounded in an attack on military parade in Ahvaz.

The IRNA report said those wounded in the attack Saturday included a woman and a child. The agency did not elaborate.

State TV earlier described the gunmen as "Takfiri gunmen," a term previously used to describe the Islamic State group.

Ahvaz is the capital of Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan province, which has seen attacks on oil pipelines by Arab separatists.

___

9:45 a.m.

Iranian state television says gunmen have attacked a military parade in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, killing and wounding several people.

The report Saturday described the gunmen as "Takifiri gunmen," a term previously used to describe the Islamic State group.

There was no immediate elaboration.