BICOM

ISIS has claimed responsibility for a double terror attack in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in which 12 people were killed.

The Iranian Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Hossein Zolfaghari said the attackers dressed as women, entered the Parliament in the centre of the city and opened fire. One attacker detonated a suicide vest.

Five hours after the first report of attack, Iranian media announced that four attackers were dead and the incident was over.

Soon after the assault on parliament, a bomber attacked the shrine Ayatollah Khomeini.

The shrine is a few kilometres south of Tehran, and a main destination for tourists and religious pilgrims.

Islamic State has criticised Iran for helping the Syrian and Iraqi governments in their fight against the terror group.

The Fars news agency blamed Iran’s enemies, the United States and Saudi Arabia, for the attacks. Making the connection that the attack was two weeks after US President Trump visited Riyadh and vowed to isolate Iran.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps also blamed Saudi Arabia for the attacks in an official statement.

Israeli commentator Ben-Dror Yemini in Yediot Ahronot  notes that as well as the Sunni- Shiite conflict, Iran supports certain Sunni terror groups when it suits their agenda. These include IHH in Turkey and Hamas. Hamas, in turn, also maintains ties to ISIS affiliates in the Sinai.