At Least 15 Reported Killed In Gun Attack On Shiraz Shrine

Three armed men have attacked a Shia shrine in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, killing at least 15 people, state media reported.

The IRNA news agency described the attackers as "takfiri terrorists," a label used by officials in mainly Shia Iran to refer to armed Sunni Islamist groups.

The attackers shot at pilgrims and staff at the entrance to the shrine of Shahcheragh, the report quoted witnesses as saying.

According to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, several women and children were among the dead and a total of 40 people were wounded.

"The terrorists started shooting with Kalashnikovs while entering the courtyard” of the shrine," Fars news agency reported.

The reports said police arrested two of the three attackers and were looking for the third.

The attack took place as security forces clashed with protesters marking 40 days since the death of Mahsa Amini in custody of the morality police.

The 22-year-old Amini died on September 16 after she was arrested for allegedly wearing the hijab incorrectly. Her death sparked anti-government protests across Iran, which in turn triggered a heavy-handed crackdown by security forces that has killed at least 234 people, including 29 children, according to one human rights organization. Several thousand people have been arrested.

Iranian authorities have called the wave of protests “seditious,” and there were concerns that the Shiraz attack could be used as pretext to further crack down on protesters.