The Islamic States has claimed a bloody double attack in Iran’s capital that killed at least 12 and injured 42 others on Wednesday.
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The attackers rocked Tehran around 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday and used both guns and suicide bombs to carry out a joint mission. They simultaneously stormed the Iranian Parliament and the Ayatollah Khomeini shrine, the tomb of the republic’s founder; both are very symbolic sites.
Around 10 a.m., gunmen allegedly dressed as women broke fire in the Parliament building before reportedly taking hostages and detonating at least one bomb.
Meanwhile, a shooting spree and bombings took place at the shrine, which is about 15 miles away.
The conflict lasted for about five hours before reports that all four assailants were dead and the incident was over.
Anup Kaphle, deputy foreign editor at BuzzFeed, tweeted a photo of a little boy being evacuated during the attack.
(Twitter)
ISIS quickly claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq News Agency.
(Twitter)
Iran has a largely Shiite population. ISIS is a Sunni terrorist group. The two groups have a historic, deep-rooted rift. The Sunnis regard Shiites as apostates, or people who have abandoned their religious beliefs.
This was the first time that an Sunni Muslim extremist group has claimed an attack inside Iran.
Despite the ongoing conflicts in the region, terror attacks in Iran had been rare; the last major attack was in 2010.
