Iran attack: 8 killed as IS targets Parliament, Khomeini mausoleum

Tehran: At least eight people including one security guard were killed, on Wednesday, in the first terror attack claimed by the Islamic State in Iran.The attack took place at the Parliament House and Ayatollah Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran.

According to the reports , two other terrorists at the mausoleum, one of them a woman, were arrested.

The Islamic State, a Sunni jihadist group, claimed responsibility for both attacks in the Shia majority nation. In the first incident, four gunmen armed with assault rifles forced their way into Parliament when it was in session and opened fire at security guards and visitors, leaving at least seven dead.

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Lawmaker Tayebeh Siavoshi said that details of the twin attacks remained sketchy even several hours later. The situation was 'very confusing and sensitive' and situation was under control.

Two hours later, one of the Parliament attackers blew himself up and minutes after the Parliament attack began, two people blew themselves up at the mausoleum of Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic state, killing an employee and wounding four visitors.

As the attack unfolded, security forces hurriedly closed the doors of Parliament and neither the lawmakers nor journalists were allowed to leave.

• Within hours, the Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for both the attacks.
• The Islamic State has no following in Iran but has stepped up its Farsi language propaganda in a bid to woo the country's Sunni minority.

The lawmaker also stated that this was the most serious terrorist incident in Tehran since the early years of the Islamic revolution of 1979 led by Khomeini.

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