Iran condemns Somali terrorist attack

Iran reacts with sorrow and grief to the bombing of a hotel in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, which took the lives of at least 22 people.

In a statement issued on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Spokesman, Ramin Mehman-Parast, expressed solidarity with the Somali government and people for "the tragic incident, which resulted in the death and injury of innocent civilians, a number of government officials and high members of the academia."

"The Islamic Republic condemns this act of terrorism, which has inflicted pain, damage and human loss on the Somali government," said Mehman-Parast.

He reaffirmed Iran's support for the Somali government and its efforts to return democracy and development to the Horn of Africa nation.

The bomb exploded during a graduation ceremony for medical students in a Mogadishu hotel on Thursday, killing 22 people and injuring more than 60 others.

The al Shabaab militia has claimed responsibility for the bomb attack.

A man claiming to be Sheikh Abdifatah, a senior al Shabaab official in Mogadishu, said the group had targeted the graduation event as part of its war on the US-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

"More attacks are to come. ..We did not target the students --our target was the TFG, and each day and every hour we will keep fighting," said the man in an interview with TIME.