Tehran attackers had been to IS strongholds

IRAN said yesterday that the five Iranians who killed 17 people in twin attacks in Tehran were Islamic State members who had been to its strongholds in Iraq and Syria.

The attacks on Wednesday at Tehran’s parliament and the shrine of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini wounded more than 50 people and were the first claimed by IS in Iran.

The intelligence ministry said: “The five known terrorists . . . after joining the Daesh [IS] terrorist group, left the country and participated in crimes carried out by this terrorist group in Mosul and Raqa.”

It suggested that there were only five attackers, rather than the six originally reported.

The ministry released their photographs and first names, saying they were part of a network that entered Iran in July and August last year under the leadership of highranking Daesh commander Abu Aisha, to carry out terrorist operations in religious cities.

Abu Aisha was killed and the network forced to flee the country, the ministry said.

It was not clear when the five men returned to Iran ahead of Wednesday’s attacks.

Iran denounced Donald Trump’s reaction to the attacks as repugnant after the US president said the nation was reaping what it had sown.

Trump said the US would grieve and pray for the victims, but said: “We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote.”

Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif condemned this and tweeted: “Repugnant WH [White House] statement . . . as Iranians counter terror backed by US clients.”

Police said five more people were arrested at Khomeini’s shrine on suspicion of involvement.

The intelligence ministry also said a third team had been stopped before the attacks began.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have pointed the finger at regional rival Saudi Arabia – a close US ally – which Iran accuses of funding extremism and groups including IS.

States that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote