Tehran extends sympathy to Americans over deadly shootings in US
August 05, 2019 - Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi extended sympathy to the American people, particularly those affected by recent mass shootings in the United States, according to the ministry’s official website.
Later on Sunday, Mousavi expressed regret over the killing of 29 people in two mass shootings in the United States and wished a speedy recovery for those injured in the incidents which happened in the states of Texas and Ohio.
The shootings left 29 people dead within 24 hours, the latest such attacks in a nation torn over how to tackle gun violence.
A gunman armed with an assault rifle killed 20 people Saturday when he opened fire on shoppers at a packed Walmart store in El Paso, Texas.
Less than 13 hours later, a lone shooter killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio early Sunday before being shot dead by responding police officers, AFP reported.
US President Donald Trump on Monday urged Republicans and Democrats to agree on tighter gun control and suggested legislation could be linked to immigration reform.
"Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform," Trump tweeted.
"We must have something good, if not GREAT, come out of these two tragic events!" Trump wrote.
The US president has made a crackdown on immigration both legal and illegal a centerpiece of his presidency and even more so of late as he campaigns for re-election next year and reaches out to his largely white, working-class base.
Gun culture is deeply rooted in America, and efforts to strengthen firearms regulations remain divisive even though mass shootings are commonplace.
Legislation calling for stronger background checks on would-be gun purchasers passed in February in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives but have not even been put to a vote in the Republican-led Senate.
The weekend massacres in El Paso and Dayton were the 250th and 251st mass shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which counts any attack in which at least four people are killed or wounded, not including the shooter.
The National Rifle Association is a firm supporter of Trump and he has appeared regularly at NRA conferences in recent years.
Critics say his anti-immigrant rhetoric helps fuel white nationalist thinking that engenders violence. The El Paso shooter reportedly posted online a racist manifesto denouncing a "Hispanic invasion" of Texas. El Paso is mainly Latino.
Democratic presidential hopefuls tore into Trump over the weekend, calling him a racist whose language emboldens violent extremists.