Police Chief Reports Arrest of 'Terrorist Team' Around Tehran

Continuing reports from the Islamic Republic's security agencies about the arrest of members of the Islamic State group, the commander of the police force announced without details that on Saturday members of 'a terrorist team' were arrested around Tehran. According to the state news agency IRNA, Hossein Ashtari, the police chief, stated that 'the good cooperation of the people' with the police and other security agencies 'has been effective in identifying and introducing terrorists.' Mr. Ashtari did not provide details about the arrest of the members of this group, which he referred to as 'terrorist.' On Friday evening, the police also reported the arrest of 'one of the affiliated elements' with the ISIS group in Karaj. Meanwhile, Ahmad Fazelian, the head of the judiciary in Alborz province, announced on Saturday that seven 'supporting agents' of the perpetrators of the attacks on Wednesday at the Parliament and the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini in the city of Ferdows were arrested. In the past two days, officials from the Ministry of Intelligence and the police have reported the arrest of dozens of members of the Islamic State group or individuals 'suspected' of collaborating with them. Additionally, the Ministry of Intelligence reported on Friday, June 9, that '41 members of the ISIS group' were arrested, and documents and equipment were seized from them. Hossein Sajedi Nia, the police chief of Tehran, also reported the arrest of five individuals 'suspected' of being connected to the attack on the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran. Hamid Bahmaniyari, the police chief of southwest Tehran, announced that a woman who was unarmed but 'was present on the sidelines' of the attack on the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini 'appeared to be in contact with the terrorists' was arrested. The head of the judiciary in Fars province also reported on Saturday the arrest of seven individuals 'suspected' of collaborating with the Islamic State group, while stating that the affiliation of these individuals with this group 'is not yet clear.' Ali Alqasi Mehr announced that 'various prohibited items' were discovered from these individuals, and investigations are ongoing. The head of the judiciary in Fars province had previously reported on April 6 that an indictment had been issued for the case of 14 foreign nationals and two Iranians who, according to him, were members of a 'Takfiri terrorist' group and were arrested last year. This local official in Fars province had also reported in November 2016 the discovery of 'suicide operations by Takfiris' in the south of this province. Earlier, Reza Seyfollahi, the deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, had announced that the perpetrators of the attacks in Tehran were 'Iranian.' However, Iran's permanent representative to the United Nations, in a letter to the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council, called for attention to the 'terrorist' incident in Tehran and the 'motivations and collusions' of the perpetrators of these attacks, implicitly accusing Saudi Arabia of involvement in these attacks. The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic also emphasized in his condolence message that the 'definitive result' of these attacks is 'nothing but an increase in hatred towards the governments of the United States and their agents in the region, such as Saudi Arabia.' This stance of the Islamic Republic's officials comes as in a video attributed to the perpetrators of the Tehran attacks, one of these individuals threatens that after Iran, it will be the turn of 'Al Saud' (Saudi Arabia). In this context, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, stated on Saturday that the attacks last Wednesday were carried out 'with political objectives and to weaken the regime.' He added, 'Considering the common enemies of Iran, Iraq, and Syria, Iran's security is intertwined with the security of the region, and it is natural that the main war and the main front is there, which sometimes has repercussions in Iran as well.' Islamic Republic officials have repeatedly emphasized before the attacks last Wednesday that if Iranian forces are not present in Syria and Iraq, they will be forced to fight in Iranian cities against groups they refer to as 'Takfiris.'