TEHRAN: Gunmen and suicide bombers stormed Iran’s parliament and the shrine of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on Wednesday, killing at least 12 people in the first attacks in the country claimed by the militant Islamic State (IS) group.

At least 46 people were injured in the attacks, which targeted two of Iran’s most potent symbols: its parliament complex in central Tehran and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini who led the 1979 Islamic revolution.

President Hassan Rouhani called for global unity against violent extremism.

• At least 12 killed in first IS strikes inside Iran
• Revolutionary Guards blame S. Arabia, US

“Iran’s message as always is that terrorism is a global problem and unity to fight extremism, violence and terrorism with regional and international cooperation is the most important need of today’s world,” he said in a statement.

The Revolutionary Guards corps of Iranian armed forces vowed revenge and claimed that the US and Saudi Arabia were “involved”.

The assaults began mid-morning when four gunmen burst into the parliament complex, killing a guard and one other person, according to the ISNA news agency.

The standoff lasted around five hours before all the gunmen holed up in parliamentary office buildings were killed.

The IS released a video of the attackers from inside the building via its propaganda agency — a rare claim of responsibility while an attack was still going on, suggesting a degree of coordination.

The parliament attackers were in their early 20s and spoke Arabic, according to a Revolutionary Guards intelligence official.

Another official said they were dressed as women and entered through the visitors’ entrance.

One eventually exploded a suicide vest while the others were killed by security personnel.

A man, recovering in a hospital bed, told the state TV he was waiting to meet a lawmaker when the shooting began.

“I was in the visitors’ lobby and suddenly shooting began. There were women and children. I escaped towards parliament, and was shot in the leg while running,” he said.

At roughly the same time, two assailants entered the grounds of the mausoleum, killing a gardener and wounding several other people.

One detonated a suicide vest, while the other was shot dead.

It was not clear whether the shrine attackers were women, as earlier reported, or just wearing female clothing.

Iran’s emergency services said a total of 12 people were killed in the two attacks and 46 wounded.

Vow of revenge

In a statement after the attacks, the Revolutionary Guards said they “will never allow the blood of innocents to be spilt without revenge”.

“This terrorist action... after the meeting of the president of the United States with the leader of the one of the region’s reactionary governments... shows they are involved,” it added, referring to President Donald Trump’s recent visit to Riyadh.

“For these two actions to happen... after this meeting means that the US and Saudi regimes had ordered their stooges to do this,” said Mohammad Hossein Nejat, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards intelligence branch, according to the Fars news agency.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the attacks would “certainly reinforce the determination of Iranians to fight against terrorism”.

Parliament was in session as the violence unfolded and members were keen to show they were undeterred, posting selfies showing themselves as calm and continuing with regular business.

Meanwhile, gunshots continued in the neighbouring office buildings, with police helping staff to escape from windows and snipers taking position from rooftops.

Speaker Ali Larijani dismissed the attacks, saying they were a “trivial matter”.

The intelligence ministry said there had been a third “terrorist” team that was neutralised before the attacks started.

Tehran was on lockdown, with streets blocked and parts of the metro closed.

Messages of support were sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Syrian foreign ministry.

The three countries are close allies in the fight against rebels and militant groups in Syria. Iran has also been helping to battle the IS in Iraq, which also sent its condolences.

The IS had posted online a rare video in Persian in March, warning that it “will conquer Iran and restore it to the Sunni Muslim nation as it was before”.

The intelligence ministry said in June last year that it had foiled an IS plot to carry out multiple bomb attacks in Tehran and around the country.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2017