ISIS Terrorist Attacks in Tehran End with 12 Dead

Iranian news agencies report that attacks that began on Wednesday morning, June 7, around 10 AM in Tehran, for which the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility, ended after five hours around 3 PM. Iranian media report that on this day, four armed attackers with Kalashnikovs and pistols attacked the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament), while two other attackers targeted the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini. According to reports, these attackers shot at various individuals and carried out suicide bombings, resulting in a total of 12 deaths and approximately 42 injuries. Mohammad Hossein Najat, deputy head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, stated in an interview with Fars News Agency that the average age of the attackers was between 20 and 25 years and that videos show the attackers speaking in Arabic, although their nationality is still unclear. According to some reports, all attackers were killed by the IRGC special forces. Meanwhile, an unnamed member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Parliament confirmed the arrest of one of the armed attackers at the Parliament. According to IRNA, the director of the Ministry of Intelligence's anti-terrorism department (whose name was not mentioned) also reported the entry of 'a third terrorist team' into Tehran on Wednesday, which, according to him, was apprehended before taking any action. Hours after the attacks began, the Amaq news agency, affiliated with ISIS, reported that the group was responsible for the attacks in Tehran. This website also published a video of the attack in which the attackers spoke in Arabic. Despite the attack on the Parliament building, the Iranian Parliament's public session continued. The protection of government buildings in Iran is the responsibility of the IRGC. In the past two years, judicial, security, and intelligence officials of the Islamic Republic have repeatedly reported on ISIS's attempts to infiltrate and carry out terrorist operations in Iranian territory, but this is the first time that the capital of Iran has experienced such an attack, similar to other capitals like London and Paris. On the other hand, according to the Deputy Security Minister of Iran, two armed individuals entered the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini on Wednesday morning, one of whom detonated himself after being identified by security forces, resulting in one death and several injuries. The second individual was also killed by security forces. At 10:30 AM, reports of an attack by several individuals on the Iranian Parliament building emerged, and shortly thereafter, media reported an attack by several individuals on the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini in southern Tehran. Hussein Zolfaqari, the Deputy Security Minister of Iran, and Mohammad Hossein Najat, the deputy head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, provided details about the attack in interviews with news agencies. According to these officials, the four attackers, disguised as if they wanted to meet with parliament members, approached the public entrance of the Parliament building in women's clothing and then opened fire on the protection forces. These two officials added that the attackers, armed with machine guns and a significant number of magazine bags, intended to enter the Parliament building but were confronted by the Parliament's protection forces and could not enter the area leading to the Parliament building. Consequently, they were forced to take refuge on one of the floors of the public reception building, where they killed two individuals and injured 30 others in encounters with staff. The Deputy Security Minister's statement about the deaths of two individuals in this attack comes as some Iranian news agencies reported that seven people were killed in the attack on the Parliament. According to Mohammad Hossein Najat, with information provided to the IRGC's special operations unit, this unit entered the building and, with the support of law enforcement, surrounded the attackers, who had been forced to hide on one of these floors, within about an hour, resulting in three of the attackers being killed in the confrontation with the special unit. Pirhossein Kolivand, the head of the country's emergency services, reported that a total of 12 people were killed in the attacks on the Parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini. One of the deceased was Mehdi Taghavi, the former CEO of the Quran News Agency (IQNA), who had been appointed as a cultural advisor to Haji Deligani, the representative of Shahin Shahr, four months ago. According to AhlulBayt News Agency, Javad Timouri, a member of the IRGC guarding the Parliament, was also among the deceased. The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported that Hamid Emadi, the office manager of Seyyed Hadi Bahadori, the representative of Urmia in Parliament, was another of the deceased. According to this emergency services official, the attacks on Wednesday also left 42 injured. The confrontation between the attackers and the Islamic Republic's security forces lasted about five hours, and ultimately, news agencies reported at 3 PM Tehran time that four attackers had been killed in the Parliament building. In this context, Iranian news agencies reported that Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander, Hossein Salami, the deputy commander of the IRGC, Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the ground forces, and Gholam Hossein Ghaibpour, the commander of the Basij, were present in the Parliament around noon. According to Mohsen Mahmoudi, the director of the Islamic Propaganda Coordination Council of Tehran Province, the funeral of the victims of these attacks will be held after Friday prayers this week.