Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the death anniversary of the founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in Tehran, Iran, June 4, 2017. TIMA via REUTERS

ANKARA (Reuters) - Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dismissed Wednesday’s bomb and gun attacks in Tehran as mere “fireworks” that would not weaken the country’s fight against terrorism, state TV reported.

“These fireworks have no effect on Iran. They will soon be eliminated ... They are too small to affect the will of the Iranian nation and its officials,” he said.

Khamenei added that Iran, which is helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fight rebels that include Islamic State fighters, had prevented worse attacks through its foreign policy.

“If Iran had not confronted terrorists where the core of this sedition is, it would have faced more attacks in Iran,” he said.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for attacks on the Iranian parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran, which killed 12 people and wounded 43 others.