Twelve killed as gunmen, suicide bombers target Iran Parliament, Khomeini mausoleum; ISIS claims responsibility

Pic courtesy: @PressTV

Tehran: At least 12 persons were killed on Wednesday in the first terror attack claimed by the Islamic State in Iran, with two bands of killers targeting the Parliament House and Ayatollah Khomeini's mausoleum in the heart of Tehran.

The standoff lasted around five hours before all the gunmen holed up in parliamentary office buildings were killed.

ISIS released a video of the attackers from inside the building via its Amaq propaganda agency - a rare claim of responsibility while an attack was still going on.

The Sunni jihadists of IS consider Shiite Iran to be apostates, and Tehran is deeply involved in fighting the group in both Syria and Iraq.

he assaults began mid-morning when four gunmen burst into the parliament complex in the centre of Tehran, killing a security guard and one other person, according to the ISNA news agency.

An interior ministry official said they were dressed as women and entered through the visitors' entrance. One eventually exploded a suicide vest while the others were killed by security forces.

At roughly the same time, two assailants entered the grounds of the Khomeini mausoleum, killing a gardener and wounding several other people.

The Governor of Tehran said one attacker detonated a suicide vest and another had been killed by security forces, state broadcaster IRIB reported.

Images from the scene showed grenades and magazines for automatic weapons, recovered from the body of an attacker, as per IANS. 

Parliament was in session as the violence unfolded and members were keen to show they were undeterred, posting selfies showing themselves as calm and continuing with regular business.

Messages of support were sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin and from the Syrian foreign ministry, as per AFP.

The three countries are close allies in the fight against rebels and jihadist groups in Syria. Iran has also been helping to battle ISIS in Iraq, which also sent its condolences.

The Islamic State has no following in Iran but has stepped up its Farsi language propaganda in a bid to woo the country's Sunni minority.