Iran terror attacks: Tehran attackers were Iranian Islamic State recruits

Tehran: Hours after suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the Iranian Parliament and Ayatollah Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran, a top official said on Wednesday night that the attackers were Iranian nationals who had joined the Islamic State group (IS).

At least 13 people were killed in the unprecedented assault.

The six attackers "were Iranian and joined Daesh (IS) from some parts of Iran," said Reza Seifollahi, the deputy secretary of Iran`s Supreme National Security Council, on state TV.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had yesterday said: "These fireworks have no effect on Iran. They will soon be eliminated."

"They are too small to affect the will of the Iranian nation and its officials," state TV quoted him as saying.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility and threatened more attacks against Iran's majority Shi'ite population, seen by the hardline Sunni militants as heretics.

They were the first attacks claimed by the Islamic State inside the tightly controlled Shi'ite Muslim country, one of the powers leading the fight against Islamic State forces in nearby Iraq and Syria.

The IS has threatened to aggravate its campaign in the country in recent months.

Shi`ites make up roughly 90 percent of Iran`s population, but the country also has a sizeable Sunni minority, particularly around its restive borders with Iraq and Pakistan.