At least 12 killed in Tehran terrorist attack

Photo: EPA/OMID WAHABZADEH

The IS (Islamic State) jihadist group has released a video, which, as they claim, was filmed inside the Iranian Parliament. At least 12 people were killed today in twin attacks, targeting the Iranian Parliament and the Ayatollah Khomeini Tomb in Tehran.

According to Iranian media reports, 4 assailants were killed by law-enforcers inside the Parliament building.

The individuals, who were armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and some wearing women’s clothes, got into the Iranian Parliament building from the central entrance early this morning.

Meanwhile, another terrorist attack was carried out in the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini, a founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, at about 10:40 a.m. (local time). According to local news agencies, at least one attacker detonated explosives in the mausoleum’s western entrance. Another attacker was reportedly killed by security forces.

The Islamic State has claimed its first ever terrorist attack in Iran. It’s the first terrorist attack in Iran carried out by the suicide bombers in general.

According to a BBC correspondent, it was the most serious terrorist violence in Tehran since the turbulent early years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and it ‘came as a huge shock to ordinary Iranians, who have gotten used to living in a country which is generally far more stable and safe than most of its neighbors.’