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12 killed as Iran witnesses first attack by ISIS
AFP – Gunmen and suicide bombers stormed Iran’s parliament and the shrine of its revolutionary leader on Wednesday, killing 12 people in the first attacks in the country claimed by the Islamic State group.
Dozens were injured in the attacks, which targeted two of Iran’s most potent symbols: its parliament complex in central Tehran and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who led the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The standoff lasted around five hours before all the gunmen holed up in parliamentary office buildings were killed.
IS released a video of the attackers from inside the building via its Amaq propaganda agency — a rare claim of responsibility while an attack was still going on.
The Sunni jihadists of IS consider Shiite Iran to be apostates, and Tehran is deeply involved in fighting the group in both Syria and Iraq.
The assaults began mid-morning when four gunmen burst into the parliament complex in the centre of Tehran, killing a security guard and one other person, according to the ISNA news agency.
An interior ministry official said they were dressed as women and entered through the visitors’ entrance. One eventually exploded a suicide vest while the others were killed by security forces.
At roughly the same time, two assailants entered the grounds of the Khomeini mausoleum, killing a gardener and wounding several other people.
One detonated a suicide vest, while the other was shot dead.
It was not clear whether the shrine attackers were women, as earlier reported, or just wearing female clothing.
Iran’s emergency services said a total of 12 people were killed in the two attacks and 43 wounded.
– Parliament undeterred –
Iran’s leaders sought to play down the attacks, with neither President Hassan Rouhani nor supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei making a statement by early evening.
Parliament was in session as the violence unfolded and members were keen to show they were undeterred, posting selfies showing themselves as calm and continuing with regular business.
Meanwhile, gunshots continued in the neighbouring office buildings, with police helping staff to escape from windows and snipers taking position from rooftops.
Speaker Ali Larijani dismissed the attacks, saying they were a “trivial matter” and that security forces were dealing with them.
The intelligence ministry said there had been a third “terrorist” team that was neutralised before the attacks started.
Tehran was on lockdown, with streets blocked and parts of the metro closed. Journalists and onlookers were kept away from the sites by police.
Interior Minister Abdolrahman Fazli told ISNA he had convened a special meeting of the country’s security council.
AFP
