ISIS claimed responsibility for twin attacks in Iran’s capital on Wednesday, one at the country’s parliament building and another at the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
According to The Associated Press and local media, at least 12 people were killed in the attacks and dozens were injured. An hours-long siege at the legislature, where parliament had been in session, has ended with four of the assailants dead.
The attacks began mid-morning when gunmen stormed the parliament building in Tehran. One of the assailants later blew himself up inside, according to a statement issued by Iran’s state news agency, IRNA.
Iran’s Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Hossein Zolfaghari told IRIB the male attackers wore women’s attire.
An ABC News reporter in Tehran said he heard gunfire Wednesday afternoon as shops in the area remained shuttered.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency later reported that the stand-off had ended with four of the attackers dead.
A suicide bomber and other attackers also targeted the shrine of Khomein, located just outside the capital. A security guard was killed in the attack and one of the assailants was killed by security guards. A woman was also arrested, according to Iran’s state broadcaster, IRIB.
Khomeini was Iran’s first Supreme Leader and he led the 1979 uprising that toppled the last shah of Iran.
Pirhossein Kolivand, the head of Iran’s emergency department, told Mizan Online, an Iranian state-run news website, that 12 people were killed and 42 were wounded in the attacks.
Through its Amaq News Agency, ISIS claimed its fighters were behind the attacks, which would be the Sunni extremist group’s first in Shia-majority Iran. ISIS militants are battling Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria, and they view Shiites as apostates.
Amaq News Ggency also released a short video purportedly taken inside the parliament building during the siege. The video, which was circulated online, shows a gunman and a bloody, lifeless body of a man on the ground next to a desk.
A voice in the video says in Arabic: “Do you think we will leave? We will remain, God willing.” Another voice repeats the same words.
