This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/07/shootings-iranian-parliament-khomeini-shrine

The article has changed 18 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 7 Version 8
Iran: several dead in suicide attacks on parliament and shrine in Tehran Iran: 12 dead in suicide attacks on parliament and shrine in Tehran
(about 1 hour later)
Gunmen and suicide bombers have carried out apparently coordinated attacks on Iran’s parliament and the tomb of the revolutionary founder Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran, killing a number of people. At least 12 people have been killed and dozens more injured in Tehran, in a two-pronged suicide bomb and gun assault on the Iranian parliament and the mausoleum of the founder of the Islamic Republic.
The attacks were claimed by Islamic State, which posted a video on its Amaq news agency that purported to show a gunman inside the parliament building. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the incidents within two hours, publishing a brief video that purported to show the assailants inside the parliament. If an Isis role is confirmed, this would be the first attack conducted by the terror group inside majority-Shia Iran.
Four gunmen burst into Tehran’s parliament complex with rifles and a pistol, and one of the attackers blew himself up on the fourth floor, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported, putting the death toll at three. The parliament assault began when four gunmen armed with rifles burst into the building complex. One of the attackers reportedly blew himself up inside as police surrounded the building.
Tasnim news agency said unconfirmed sources on the ground were reporting that seven people including a guard had been killed. There were further, unconfirmed reports that a number of MPs had been taken hostage. Gunfire could be heard from outside as police helicopters circled overhead, entrance and exit gates were closed, and mobile phone lines from inside were disconnected.
The attackers were male but dressed as women, deputy interior minister Mohammad Hossein Zolfaghari told Iran’s state TV, which reported that all four gunmen were eventually killed and the incident declared over. “I was inside the parliament when shooting happened. Everyone was shocked and scared. I saw two men shooting randomly,” one journalist at the scene, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
It is unclear how the attackers got past security checkpoints to enter the parliament building. Police helicopters were circling over the building, entrance and exit gates were closed, and mobile phone lines from inside were disconnected. MPs continued scheduled sessions in another part of the complex. The deputy interior minister, Mohammad Hossein Zolfaghari, told Iran’s state TV that the attackers were dressed as women in order to gain entry.
Reporters inside the chamber, where a session had been in progress, were ordered to remain there. About five hours after the first reports, Iranian news agencies said all four assailants were dead and the incident was over, after unconfirmed reports of a hostage situation.
Witnesses said the attackers were shooting from the fourth floor of the parliament building down at people in the streets below. Soon after the assault on the parliament began, reports emerged of another incident about 12 miles (19km) south at the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who established the Islamic Republic after deposing the Shah in 1979.
Ebrahim Ghanimi, who was passing by the building when it was attacked, told the Associated Press: “I thought that children were playing with fireworks, but I realised people were hiding and lying down on the streets.” One attacker detonated a suicide bomb outside the shrine, the state news agency IRNA reported, and another assailant was reportedly shot by security forces. A number of visitors were injured.
About half an hour after the initial attack at parliament, three to four people entered the western entrance of Khomeini’s tomb complex and opened fire, before one of the attackers detonated a suicide belt. A security guard and a gardener were reportedly killed, and at least four people injured. The Iranian intelligence ministry said a third team had been arrested before carrying out a planned attack.
The ILNA agency said security forces were dismantling a bomb at the mausoleum, which is in southern Tehran, about 12 miles from the parliament building. Attacks are highly rare in Tehran and other major Iranian cities, although a Sunni militant group named Jundallah and its splinter group, Ansar al Furqan, have been waging a deadly insurgency, mostly in more remote areas, for almost a decade.
Iran’s intelligence ministry said it had foiled a third plot and asked people to avoid public transport. The state broadcaster Irib quoted the ministry as saying: “Members of a third group were arrested before being able to carry out any attack.” Isis, which adheres to a puritanical strain of Sunni Islam, considers Shias heretics and has carried out numerous attacks against Shia civilians, in Iraq in particular. But this assault, which appeared to have a higher degree of coordination and planning than recent Isis-claimed attacks in Europe, would be a significant escalation.
Islamic State used its Amaq news agency to claim responsibility for the attacks - the first time it has done so for attacks in Iran. It took place against a backdrop of great regional tension, with Arab Gulf countries pushing for a more forceful isolation of Iran, their regional arch-enemy. The Gulf states earlier this week severed diplomatic relations with their neighbour Qatar over its close relationship with Tehran.
Shia Iran has been singled out as a target by Sunni jihadis, including Isis, but has largely escaped attacks within its urban centres. Iran provides ground forces to fight Isis and other rebel groups in Syria and Iraq. Last month, Iranian voters re-elected Hassan Rouhani, a relatively moderate figure, by a landslide in presidential elections. The high-profile attack on one of the most well-guarded buildings in the capital will come as a blow to the reformist president, who will have to address demands for greater security in the face of the Isis threat.
Isis published a rare video in Persian in March, warning that it would “conquer Iran and restore it to the Sunni Muslim nation as it was before”. The group and other extremists consider Shias to be apostates, and the video accuses Iranians of persecuting Sunnis over the centuries. Isis published a rare video in Persian in March, warning that it “will conquer Iran and restore it to the Sunni Muslim nation as it was before”, while accusing Iranians of persecuting Sunnis over the centuries. Militant groups are also known to operate in Iran’s south-eastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, which borders Pakistan and has a large Sunni community.
Militant groups are also known to operate in Iran’s south-eastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, which borders Pakistan and has a large Sunni community.
Jaish-ul Adl (Army of Justice), which Tehran accuses of links with al-Qaida, has carried out several armed attacks inside Iranian territory in recent years.
Khomeini launched the Islamic revolution in 1979 and was Iran’s leader for 10 years.
Need something explained?Let us know which of these questions we can answer for you.Need something explained?Let us know which of these questions we can answer for you.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this reportAgence France-Presse contributed to this report