Islamic State claims Iran shrine attack as thousands turn out for protests
- At least 15 people killed in an attack on a shrine in Iran’s southern city of Shiraz, which state media described as a terrorist act
- Wednesday’s attack came as Iran has been rocked by street protests since the death of Mahsa Amini last month
The militant group Islamic State said it carried out an attack on a Shiite Muslim shrine in Iran which killed 15 people, escalating tensions in a country reeling from a wave of protests and prompting warnings of a response from Tehran.
Iranian officials said they had arrested a gunman who carried out the attack at the Shah Cheragh shrine in the city of Shiraz on Wednesday.
State media blamed “takfiri terrorists” – a label Tehran uses for hardline Sunni Muslim militants like Islamic State.
The group has claimed previous attacks in Iran, including deadly twin bombings in 2017 which targeted Iran’s parliament and the tomb of the Islamic Republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi blamed the protests sweeping Iran for paving the ground for the Shiraz attack, and President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran would respond, according to state media.