Tehran Terror Attacks: 12 Killed, 42 Injured

Iranian government officials have confirmed that the two terror attacks in Tehran have left 12 people dead and 42 injured. The attacks on the parliament building and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini were conducted by six armed assailants. One was a suicide bomber who was killed when he detonated his bomb and the other five were killed by the security forces.

In a short statement published on its Amaq News Agency, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks. The news agency also published a video they claim was filmed by one the assailants from inside the Iranian parliament building. An assailant can be heard on the video shouting in Arabic: “Do you think we will leave? No! We will remain, God willing!”

According to Hossein Zolfaghari, the Interior Ministry’s Deputy for Security Affairs, four terrorists dressed as women entered the parliament through the public entrance. “They started shooting at the guards right from the door,” he said. “But the Revolutionary Guards’ security forces immediately took action and took control of the parliament’s grounds...The terrorists were forced to go to the representatives’ offices and target people from there.”

“Two terrorists tried to enter the mausoleum from the west side,” said Mohammad Ali Ansari, guardian of Ayatollah Khomeini’s mausoleum, about the second terrorist attack. “Both had explosives strapped to their bodies and started shooting blindly the moment that they entered the mausoleum. When they were at the entrance to the nave, security forces shot at them and one of them exploded [their device and killed themself] there. The second terrorist escaped but the guards shot him dead and succeeded in defusing his explosive belt. The terrorists were carrying many grenades and a lot of explosives.”

Iranian media have not corroborated initial reports that at least one woman was among the terrorists, but some media, including the New York Times, are still reporting that a woman was involved. 

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani condemned the terrrorists, and said they especially wanted to create havoc in Iran "which is an active and effective center for fighting terrorism...No doubt, security forces shall deal with them in a serious manner.”

The director-general of the Interior Ministry’s Counter-Intelligence said: “This morning a number of terror groups tried to carry out terrorist operations in Tehran. Members of one terrorist team were arrested before they could act.”  The official, however, did not provide any detail or further information about the possible connections of these groups with the two terrorist groups that were involved in today’s attacks.