IRAN

12 dead in Iran twin attacks; IS claims responsibility

IRAN-SECURITY/ Members of Iranian forces are seen during the attack on the Iranian parliament in central Tehran | Reuters

Attackers raided and opened fire inside Iran's parliament and also at the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini a few kilometres south of the capital on Wednesday morning, in near simultaneous attacks that killed up to 12 people, Iranian officials have confirmed. 

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. 

The shooting had continued to take place inside the parliament complex. Iran's deputy interior minister said the attackers who raided parliament are dead. The attackers, who were dressed as women, entered parliament's main gate and opened fire, Mohammad Hossein Zolfaghari was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency. "One of the attackers in the parliament was shot dead, and one detonated a suicide vest," he added.

Iran's intelligence ministry has said that it has foiled another terrorist plot and asked people to avoid public transport.

The assailants, with pistols and AK-47 assault rifles, carried out the attack in central Tehran, lawmaker Elias Hazrati told state television. 

An official at Khomeini's mausoleum in south Tehran said "three or four" people had entered via the western entrance and opened fire, killing the gardener and wounding several people. Fars said a female suicide attacker blew herself up outside the shrine and published photos showing the explosion.

The city was on lockdown, with streets blocked and the metro closed, and journalists kept away from the shrine by police.

Shiite Iran has been singled out as a target by Sunni jihadists, including the Islamic State group, but has largely escaped attacks within its urban centres. Iran, the predominant Shiite power, has been helping both Iraq and President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria to battle the Sunni extremist group.

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Topics : #Iran

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