1 killed, 8 injured in assault on Iran Shiite shrine; President Raisi orders probe
A taking pictures Sunday at a Shiite Muslim shrine in Iran’s south killed at the least one individual and wounded eight others, state media reported, revising down a earlier toll of 4 fatalities.
The assault comes lower than a yr after an analogous one on the identical holy web site, the Shah Cheragh mausoleum within the Fars province capital Shiraz.
“One person has been killed and eight others wounded in the attack,” official information company IRNA reported, quoting deputy Fars governor Esmail Ghezel Sofla.
The wounded “have been transferred to medical centres and are undergoing treatment”, IRNA stated.
Earlier, it stated 4 folks have been killed however has retracted the preliminary report.
The loss of life toll of 1 was confirmed by the Fars commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Yadollah Bouali, talking on state TV.
Iranian media shops have offered completely different accounts of the assault and ranging casualty tolls.
Bouali stated a lone gunman was behind the taking pictures and arrested shortly after.
“A terrorist entered the gate of the shrine and opened fire with a battle rifle,” Bouali stated.
Fars province governor Mohamed Hadi Imanieh informed state TV the assault occurred round 7:00 pm (1530 GMT).
Footage carried by state TV confirmed ambulances dashing to the positioning of the assault.
There was no instant declare of duty for the assault.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has ordered an investigation and vowed in an announcement to deliver these accountable to justice, in accordance with IRNA.
The Shah Cheragh mausoleum is house to the tomb of Ahmad, brother of Imam Reza — the eighth Shiite imam — and is taken into account the holiest web site in southern Iran.
On October 26, a mass taking pictures on the revered shrine left 13 folks lifeless and 30 wounded, in an assault later claimed by Islamic State (IS) group extremists.
– Foreign suspects –
Iran hanged two males in public over the October assault, the judiciary’s Mizan Online information web site reported final month, figuring out them as Mohammad Ramez Rashidi and Naeem Hashem Qatali however not revealing their nationalities.
Authorities had beforehand stated the assault concerned folks from different international locations together with neighbouring Afghanistan.
The pair have been hanged at daybreak on July 8 on a avenue close to the shrine in Shiraz, the capital of Fars province, IRNA reported on the time.
Mizan stated they’d been convicted of “corruption on earth, armed rebellion and acting against national security” in addition to “conspiracy against the security of the country”.
According to Mizan, Rashidi had confessed to having collaborated with IS to hold out the taking pictures.
Three different defendants within the case have been sentenced to jail for 5, 15 and 25 years for being members of IS, Fars chief justice Kazem Moussavi stated.
The important assailant — who Iranian media had recognized as Hamed Badakhshan, a person in his 30s — died of accidents sustained throughout his arrest, authorities stated.
In November, Tehran stated 26 “takfiri terrorists” from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan had been arrested in reference to the assault.
In Shiite-dominated Iran, the time period takfiri usually refers to jihadists or proponents of radical Sunni Islam.
Last yr’s assault occurred as Iran was gripped by nationwide protests following the loss of life in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, arrested for an alleged breach of strict costume guidelines for girls.
Published On:
Aug 14, 2023
