Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari on Wednesday strongly denounced a recent brutal attack on a military barracks near Tunisia’s border with Libya, which claimed the lives of dozens.
Jaberi Ansari condemned the terrorist attack and expressed sympathy with the bereaved families of the victims and the Tunisian nation and government.
He also reaffirmed the Islamic Republic of Iran’s solidarity with Tunisia in the fight against terrorism and extremism.
At least 43 militants were killed in clashes following the attack on the military barracks, Tunisia’s defense ministry said Wednesday.
Seven suspected terrorists were arrested after the attack in the town of Ben Gardane, the ministry statement said.
Air patrols in the area around the border have intensified, and the main crossings with Libya -- Ras Ajdir and Dheiba -- were closed Tuesday.
Authorities asked residents in Ben Gardane to stay indoors and report any suspicious activity.
The Tunisian interior ministry released photographs of three people it identified as prominent Daesh (ISIL) militants who it said were killed in the attacks and subsequent police raids. The ministry did not give their names.
Terrorists, some of them from Daesh, have waged brutal attacks on Tunisia in recent years, including on Tunis’ Bardo museum and a seaside resort in Sousse.
Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi denounced what he called the "unprecedented and coordinated" militant attack on the barracks, and suggested it may have been an attempt to control the region and "proclaim a new province."
He also vowed to eradicate his country of terrorists, CNN reported.
"The vast majority of Tunisians are at war against this barbarism and those rats that we will definitely exterminate," Essebsi said.