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| Police patrol outside Iran's parliament building after an assault by several attackers that was claimed by the Islamic State group, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, June 7, 2017. Gunmen and suicide bombers attacked Iran’s parliament and the shrine of its revolutionary leader, killing at least 12 people, wounding dozens and igniting an hours-long siege at the legislature that ended with four attackers dead. It marked the first time the Sunni extremists have taken responsibility for an assault in Shiite-majority Iran. |
TEHRAN, Iran
(AP) -- The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Wednesday
for a pair of stunning attacks on Iran's parliament and the tomb of its
revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which killed at least
12 people and wounded more than 40.
Tehran
Police Chief Gen. Hossein Sajedinia announced late Wednesday night that
five suspects had been detained for interrogation, according to a report
in the semi-official ISNA news agency. Sajedinia did not offer any
further details.
Reza Seifollahi, an official
in the country's Supreme National Security Council, was quoted by the
independent Shargh daily as saying that the perpetrators of the attacks
were Iranian nationals. He did not elaborate.
The
bloodshed shocked the country and came as emboldened Sunni Arab states -
backed by U.S. President Donald Trump - are hardening their stance
against Shiite-ruled Iran.
The White House
released a statement from Trump condemning the terrorist attacks in
Tehran and offering condolences, but also implying that Iran is itself a
sponsor of terrorism.
"We grieve and pray for
the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks in Iran, and for the
Iranian people, who are going through such challenging times," the
statement said. "We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk
falling victim to the evil they promote."
In
recent years, Tehran has been heavily involved in conflicts in Syria and
Iraq against the Islamic State, but had remained untouched by IS
violence around the world. Iran has also battled Saudi-backed Sunni
groups in both countries.
Iran's powerful
Revolutionary Guard indirectly blamed Saudi Arabia for the attacks. A
statement issued Wednesday evening stopped short of alleging direct
Saudi involvement but called it "meaningful" that the attacks followed
Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, where he strongly asserted Washington's
support for Riyadh.
The statement said Saudi
Arabia "constantly supports" terrorists including the Islamic State
group, adding that the IS claim of responsibility "reveals (Saudi
Arabia's) hand in this barbaric action."
The "spilled blood of the innocent will not remain unavenged," the Revolutionary Guard statement said.
Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader, used the attacks to defend
Tehran's involvement in wars abroad. He told a group of students that if
"Iran had not resisted," it would have faced even more troubles.
"The Iranian nation will go forward," he added.
The
violence began in midmorning when assailants with Kalashnikov rifles
and explosives stormed the parliament complex where a legislative
session had been in progress. The siege lasted for hours, and one of the
attackers blew himself up inside, according to Iran's state TV.
Images
circulating in Iranian media showed gunmen held rifles near the windows
of the complex. One showed a toddler being handed through a first-floor
window to safety outside as an armed man looks on.
The
IS group's Aamaq news agency released a 24-second video purportedly
shot inside the complex, showing a bloody, lifeless body on the floor
next to a desk.
An Associated Press reporter
saw several police snipers on the roofs of nearby buildings. Police
helicopters circled the parliament and all mobile phone lines from
inside were disconnected.
Shops in the area
were closed as gunfire rang out and officials urged people to avoid
public transportation.
Witnesses said the attackers fired from the
parliament building's fourth floor at people in the streets.
"I
was passing by one of the streets. I thought that children were playing
with fireworks, but I realized people are hiding and lying down on the
streets," Ebrahim Ghanimi, who was around the parliament building, told
the AP. "With the help of a taxi driver, I reached a nearby alley."
As
the parliament attack unfolded, gunmen and suicide bombers also struck
outside Khomeini's mausoleum on Tehran's southern outskirts. Khomeini
led the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Western-backed shah to
become Iran's first supreme leader until his death in 1989.
Iran's
state broadcaster said a security guard was killed at the tomb and that
one of the attackers was slain by security guards. A woman was also
arrested. The revered shrine was not damaged.
The
Interior Ministry said six assailants were killed - four at the
parliament and two at the tomb. A senior Interior Ministry official told
Iran's state TV the male attackers wore women's attire.
Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani called the attacks a cowardly act.
Saudi
Arabia and Iran regularly accuse each other of supporting extremists in
the region. Saudi Arabia has long pointed to the absence of IS attacks
in Iran as a sign of Tehran's culpability. For its part, Iran has cited
Saudi Arabia's support for jihadists and its backing of hard-line Sunni
fighters in Syria.
Trump's first overseas
visit to Saudi Arabia last month positioned the U.S. firmly on the side
of the kingdom and other Arab states in their stance against Iran. His
assurances of Washington's support emboldened hawkish royals in Saudi
Arabia, which is at war in Yemen against Iranian-allied rebels.
The
attacks are likely to deepen enmity and sharpen the regional battle for
power between the two rivals. Tensions are running high this week
following a cut in ties between key Arab powers and Qatar over
accusations that the energy-rich nation supports terrorist groups and is
aligning itself too closely with Iran.
Saudi
Arabia has been a target of numerous lethal attacks by IS affiliates who
see the kingdom's Western-allied leadership as heretics. The group has
also targeted Shiites in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. IS militants are
fighting Iranian-backed forces in Syria and Iraq, and they view Shiites
as apostates.
Nelly Lahoud, an expert on
extremism at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in
Bahrain, said IS leaders may be looking to rally supporters through the
attacks in Iran as they lose ground in Syria and Iraq.
"Now
that they are unable to maintain the promise of territory, attacking
Iran is to their advantage," she said. "It wouldn't surprise me if this
were planned for a long time."
On March 27,
the IS group posted a 37-minute video in Farsi threatening Iran. The
Clarion Project said the speakers claimed to represent various Iranian
Sunni ethnic groups, such as the Baluchis and Ahvazis, and encouraged
Iranian Sunnis to join the group.
Wednesday's
attacks, during the holy month of Ramadan that is observed by both Sunni
and Shiite Muslims, came as the Islamic State is competing with
al-Qaida for jihadi recruits.
Arab separatists
are active in Iran's southern city of Ahvaz, where they killed two
policemen three weeks ago. Though most Iranians are Shiite, including
separatists in Ahvaz, the eastern Baloch region is majority Sunni,
although there are no recent census figures available. There is also a
significant Sunni population in southern Hormozgan province.
The
attacks drew condemnation from Iran's allies - and also from the United
States. That was notable because of the deep distrust between Tehran
and Washington, which don't have diplomatic relations.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the U.S. expressed condolences to the victims and their families.
"The depravity of terrorism has no place in a peaceful, civilized world," Nauert said.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin sent condolences and confirmed Moscow's
willingness to aid its ally. Syria's Foreign Ministry also condemned the
attacks, which it said were backed by various governments that it did
not specify.
The IS group often claims attacks
around the world, even when links to the group cannot be confirmed.
Iranian security officials have not said who might have been behind the
attacks, although state media called the assailants "terrorists."
There
are concerns that a doubling down on security could lead to a wider
clampdown on the opposition in Iran. Rights group Amnesty International
urged Iranian authorities to carry out impartial investigations into the
attacks.
Charlie Winter, a senior research
fellow at King's College London, said the attacks could provoke a
disproportionate counterterrorism response in Iran.
"Iranian
officials will be called upon to step up intervention in Iraq (and)
Syria big time," he said, adding that Wednesday's attacks will
significantly boost IS morale amid battlefield defeats.
