Bombs, ammunition seized as Iran stops ‘biggest terrorist plot’ ever planned to target Tehran

Iranian intelligence officials have broken up “the biggest terrorist plot” ever planned to target Tehran and other provinces in the Islamic Republic, the country’s state television reported on Monday.

An anchor on state television read off a statement attributing the information to Iran’s Intelligence Ministry. Officials could not be immediately reached for comment to elaborate.

Several suspects have been arrested and are under interrogation over the plot after agents seized ammunition and bombs, the state television said.

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The semi-official Fars and ISNA news agencies quoted Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, as saying the attack was timed to hit during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, citing the Intelligence Ministry, said the attack was supposed to come on the anniversary of the death of the Prophet Muhammad’s wife, Khadija, which was commemorated in small ceremonies across Iran on Thursday.

The report didn’t identify those arrested, though it called them “takfiris,” a derogatory term in both Arabic and Farsi referring to Muslims who accuse others of being “non-believers.”

Iranian authorities often refer to followers of the Sunni militant Islamic State group as “takfiris,” though it isn’t clear if this case involved the extremist group that holds territory in Iraq and Syria.