Sunni Iranian Group Releases Al Qaeda-Style Video
The video, which was produced by the "Qadessiyoon Media Brigade," shows a single shot of a group of men gathered at what seems to be the mosque that was attacked. An explosion occurs and the men are fleeing the scene.
In English text displayed at the beginning of the tape, the group explains that the attack was in retaliation for the "torture and assassination" of Sunni Iranians, the destruction of Sunni mosques and more specifically for the killing of two Sunni Iranian scholars in the city of Iranshahr in April 2008.
There are no known connections between the Sunni Iranian group and al Qaeda. In fact, Iran has accused the U.S. and Britain of training and financing the attackers.
The group seems to have nonetheless learned from al Qaeda's propaganda techniques. The video opens with verses from the Qur'an, as is the case with many videos produced by al Qaeda and other militant Islamist groups. It also uses a popular jihadi song often used by other groups.
The single shot of the men reacting to the explosion at the mosque is repeated and frozen several times. The jihadi song's lyrics - "Blow them up, expel them all, hunt them…kill them" - are translated to English and appear as subtitles over the footage and pictures of Iran's former Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeni, Iran's current Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad