IS attack on Iran Parliament, shrine leaves 12 dead

DRESSED AS WOMEN, ATTACKERS ENTERED PARLIAMENT THROUGH THE MAIN GATE IN CENTRAL TEHRAN

TEHRAN: Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked Iran’s parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran on Wednesday morning, killing at least 12 people in a twin assault at the heart of the Islamic Republic, Iranian officials and media said.

Islamic State claimed responsibility and released a video purporting to show gunmen inside the parliament building and one man, who appeared wounded, on the floor.

The rare attacks were the first claimed by the hardline Sunni Muslim militant group inside the Shia Muslim country. Iran is one of the powers leading the fight against Islamic State militants in neighbouring Iraq and, beyond that, Syria.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj spoke to Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif and condemned the attacks. The external affairs ministry said that in a telephone conversation, the minister offered condolences on loss of innocent lives and expressed solidarity with the people and the government of Iran.

Several other countries, too, condemned the attacks and extended their support to Iran.

Dressed as women, the attackers burst through parliament’s main entrance in central Tehran, deputy interior minister Mohammad Hossein Zolfaghari said, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

“One of them was shot dead and another detonated his suicide vest,” he said. At least 12 people were killed by the attackers, the head of Iran’s emergency department, Pir-Hossein Kolivand, was quoted as saying by IRIB.