Twelve die as bombers, gunmen storm parliament

SUICIDE bombers and gunmen stormed Iran’s parliament and the shrine of its revolutionary leader yesterday, killing 12 people in the first attacks in the country claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.

Dozens of people were wounded in the dual attacks, which ended after a standoff lasting several hours as the gunmen holed up in parliamentary office buildings in Tehran.

IS released a video of the attackers from inside the parliament building through its Amaq propaganda agency – a rare claim of responsibility while an attack was still unfolding.

The assailants had all been killed, about five hours after the assault had started, police said. The Sunni jihadists of IS consider Shiite Iran to be apostate, and Tehran is involved in fighting the group in Syria and Iraq.

The assaults began mid-morning, when four gunmen burst into the parliament complex in the centre of Tehran, killing a guard and another person, the ISNA news agency said.

An interior ministry official said the assailants were dressed as women.

At about the same time, three or four assailants entered the grounds of the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini – who led the 1979 Islamic revolution – killing a gardener and wounding several other people.

Iran’s emergency services said 12 people were killed in the two attacks and 39 wounded.

Two of the attackers at the shrine, one of them a woman, blew themselves up, while another detonated a suicide vest on the fourth floor of the parliamentary office building.

A picture on social media showed police helping staff escape through windows.

Large crowds gathered around cordons to watch as police struggled to disperse the people.

Parliament was in session as the attacks unfolded and members were keen to show they were undeterred, continuing with regular business.

Some posted selfies of themselves looking calm, even as gun battles raged in surrounding buildings and snipers took position on rooftops.

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani dismissed the attacks, saying they were a trivial matter and that security forces were dealing with them.

An official at Khomeini’s mausoleum said three or four people had entered the shrine and opened fire.

Photos from a news agency showed a bomber blowing herself up outside.

The intelligence ministry said there had been a third terrorist team that was neutralised before the attacks.

Tehran was on lockdown, with streets blocked and parts of the metro closed.

Interior Minister Abdolrahman Fazli convened a special meeting of the country’s security council.

Jihadist groups have clashed frequently with security forces along Iran’s borders with Iraq and Afghanistan, but the country has largely escaped terrorist attacks within its urban centres.