2017 Tehran attacks

2017 Tehran attacks
Part of Terrorism in Iran and Spillover of the Syrian Civil War
Iranian Security guard behind the parliament building
Location	Islamic Consultative Assembly and Mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini area Tehran, Iran
Date	7 June 2017 (2017-06-07) 10:50–14:14 IRDT (UTC+04:30)
Attack type	Suicide bombing, mass shooting, hostage-taking
Deaths	19+ (13 victims, 6 attackers)
Injured	43 (approx.)
No. of participants	7

On 7 June 2017, two attacks were simultaneously carried out against the Iranian parliament and the Mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini, leaving 13 people dead and 43 wounded. ISIL claimed responsibility for both attacks. Iranian authorities confirmed that Iranian ISIL militants carried out the event. The shootings were the first terrorist attacks in Tehran in more than a decade, and the first major attack in the country since the 2010 Zahedan bombings.

Background

See also: Iranian intervention in Iraq (2014–present) and Iranian involvement in the Syrian Civil War

The Iranian government has been battling ISIL for over three years with ground troops fighting ISIL militants in both Iraq and Syria. ISIL, whose religion is based on the Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam, sees Shias, the largest Muslim population group in Iran, as non-Muslims and enemies of Islam. Nonetheless, ISIL had yet to carry out any attacks within Iran. In the months before the attack, ISIL increased its propaganda efforts in Farsi to influence Iran's Sunni minority.

Parliament attack

According to a statement given by Hossein Zolfaghari, the Iranian deputy Minister of Interior, to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, four militants entered the Parliament's administrative building disguised as women. Several of the gunmen were carrying AK-47 rifles. The gunmen opened fire, leaving seven to eight people injured. The militants were reported to have taken some people hostage, although the Iranian government denied this.

The building was subsequently surrounded by security forces. The Iranian government later stated that four gunmen had been killed. An Iranian member of parliament said that one of his staff were among the victims. Iranian state television reported that one of the attackers had blown himself up inside the parliament building while parliament was in session. Associated Press reported that journalists at the site had seen police snipers on nearby rooftops. Shops in the neighborhood were closed. Eyewitnesses said that the gunmen were shooting at people in the street from the fourth floor of the parliament building.

Mausoleum attack

File:Mausoleo de Ruhollah Khomeini, Teherán, Irán, 2016-09-18, DD 03.jpg

Mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini

The attack on the mausoleum has reportedly left one person dead and five people injured. Both attacks took place around the same time and appear to have been coordinated. A suicide bomber was reported to have detonated a bomb at the mausoleum by the BBC. One female militant attacker has been captured alive.

Government officials later claimed to have thwarted a third attack.

Responsibility

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the attacks. Some observers are sceptical of ISIL's claim of responsibility, and suspect the Peoples Mujahedin of Iran to be behind it, which is a group that has called for the violent overthrow of the government. If ISIL were in fact responsible, it would be the group's first attack in Iran. The Aamaq news agency, related to ISIL, released a 24-second video showing a lifeless body of a man, while a voice says in Arabic: "Do you think we will leave? We will remain, God willing."

Timeline of the attacks

Khomeini's Mausoleum

• 10:40 – Three assailants enter Khomeini's Mausoleum through its western ingress.
• 11:00 – Assailants clash with the security team in the mausoleum, three guards wounded.
• 11:13 – A suicide bomber blasts in the premises of the mausoleum. 35-year-old gardener killed, two others wounded.
• 11:20 – Another suicide bomber is shot before detonating.
• 11:25 – A female assailant is arrested.

Parliament

• 11:09 – Four assailants dressed in women's clothing attack the Parliament's administrative building with AK-47 and handguns.
• 12:56 – One of the assailants detonates his suicide bomb on the fourth floor of the Parliament.
• 13:00 – Assailants open fire at people gathered in the street through the fourth floor windows.
• 13:11 – The Parliament session is adjourned.
• 13:12 – Security forces clash with assailants in the western wing of the Parliament.
• 13:15 – Assailants run out of AK-47 bullets, switch to handguns.
• 13:39 – Islamic State claims responsibility for the attacks.
• 13:42 – Lawmakers are evacuated.
• 14:14 – Security forces kill one of the assailants.
• 14:14 – Two other assailants are killed by the security forces.

Time is local (UTC+04:30)

Reactions

Iranian government officials expressed sympathies for the victims, and condemned the attack. President Hassan Rouhani said the attack would make Iran more united. "We will prove once again that we will crush the enemies' plots with more unity and more strength", Rouhani said. He also called regional and international cooperation and unity. First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri also stated that government will promote the organized fight against radical terrorism. Seyed Hassan Khomeini, grandson of Ruhollah Khomeini and caretaker of the Mausoleum of Khomeini, expressed his condolences to the families of "martyrs" in "Imam's mausoleum" and "Majlis". Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Javad Zarif condemned the terrorist attack in Tehran saying terrorism is a problem that we face in the Middle East and the whole world. Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani said in his closing statements that the attack was a "minor issue." Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf tweeted "Martyred of our dear citizens in a terrorist attack have created deep scars on our hearts".

Major General Mohsen Rezaee of the Revolutionary Guards wrote in an Instagram post that Iran is sure to "severely punish the terrorists who have murdered hundred, not only in Iran but also in the U.K., Germany, France, Afghanistan, and Pakistan." The Guards also released a statement saying Saudi Arabia was behind the attack. Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani also made the remarks that authorities had apprehended several people suspected of planning bomb attacks. He noted that the arrests were made over the last few days and added that the attacks were planned for the holy month of Ramadan.

Iranian Sunni leader and Zahedan Friday Prayers Imam Molavi Abdul Hamid condemned the attacks and said "Blind terrorists martyred fasting people who were referred to the offices of the Parliament."

Shooting at parliament building

International reactions

Internationally, condolences were expressed by the leaders and governments of countries such as Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, India, Iraq, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the terrorist attacks and extended his sincere condolences to the government of Iran and the families of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured. The United Nations Security Council observed a minute's silence in the aftermath of the attack. Federica Mogherini, European Union Foreign Policy Chief, condemned the attacks and voiced sympathy and solidarity with Iran in a phone-call with Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Javad Zarif. US Senators Bernie Sanders and Dianne Feinstein called on the US Senate to delay voting on imposing sanctions on Iran.

President of the United States Donald Trump released an statement in which he prayed for the "innocent victims of terrorist attacks" and said "states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote."

Following the attack, the Iranian government claimed that Saudi Arabia was involved in the attacks. Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, denied his country's involvement in the attacks and said Riyadh had no knowledge of who was responsible for them. He condemned the attacks saying that they "condemn terrorist attacks" and "the killing of the innocent anywhere it occurs."

See also

• List of terrorist incidents in June 2017