“At least four people were killed following a terrorist attack perpetrated by two armed men against the holy shrine of Shah-Cheragh” in Shiraz, a city south of Tehran, according to the official news agency Irna.
Two men involved in this attack
One of the attackers was arrested while the other is still at large, according to the Tasnim news agency. Shah-Cheragh, a very important Shiite pilgrimage site in Iran, had already been the target of an attack which killed 13 people on October 26, 2022.
Two men involved in this attack claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) were hanged in public in Shiraz on July 8. The two men were found guilty of “corruption on land, armed rebellion and undermining national security”, as well as “conspiracy against the security of the country”. They were also charged with belonging to the Islamic State group and “conspiracy against the security of the country”.
ISIS claimed responsibility for its first attack in Iran in 2017
Mizan Online, the official agency of the Judicial Authority, had identified the two executed men as Mohammad Ramez Rashidi and Naeem Hashem Qatali, without revealing their nationality. In November, authorities said 26 “Takfiri terrorists” from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan had been arrested in connection with the attack.
In Iran, a country with a Shiite majority, the term takfiri generally refers to jihadists or supporters of radical Sunni Islam. IS claimed its first attack in Iran in 2017, when gunmen and suicide bombers attacked the parliament building in Tehran and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, killing 17 people and in injuring dozens.