June 7, 2017
Islamic State claims to have carried out twin gun and bomb attacks on Iran’s parliament and the shrine of the modern country’s founder, Ayatollah Khomeini.
At least 12 people were killed and 42 injured when several gunmen and suicide bombers targeted the two locations in Tehran.
Four attackers at the parliament were killed and the fate of four reported hostages is unclear.
One of the assailants is believed to have blown himself up on the fourth floor.
Photos showed people climbing down from exterior windows of the building as they tried to escape.
Iranian security forces were seen hiding behind bollards and running for shelter carrying guns.
A 24-second video released by Islamic State’s Amaq news agency while the siege was ongoing purported to have been filmed inside the parliament building.
It showed a gunman and the bloody, lifeless body of a man lying on the ground.
A voice on the video praises God in Arabic and says: “Do you think we will leave? We will remain! God willing.”
An interior ministry official said the attackers had been dressed as women and gained access through a visitors’ entrance.
At the same time as the parliament siege, two militants attacked the mausoleum of the country’s venerated revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini, in the south of the city.
A gardener was killed and several others were injured when one exploded a suicide vest. The other attacker was shot dead.
Iran, an ally of Syria’s Bashar al Assad, backs Shia militia that are waging war on IS militants in both Iraq and Syria.
Source: Sky News