ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack carried out today on a Shiite place of worship in Shiraz, southern Iran, which, according to local media, resulted in the death of 13 people.
An Islamic state fighter allegedly opened fire on pilgrims "killing at least 20 and wounding dozens" according to the claim of the Sunni Islamist group released via Telegram, but the official death toll is lower for now.
The attack in southern Iran has the flavor of a political-religious attack on a Shiite place of worship.
State TV also talks about 40 people injured "in the attack.
The Shahcheragh shrine houses the tomb of Ahmad, brother of Imam Reza, the eighth Shiite imam buried in Mashhad (northeast).
The media initially reported on three attackers, two of whom have already been arrested.
However, the head of the local judicial authority, Kazem Moussavi, said on television that "only one terrorist was involved in this attack:" A terrorist affiliated with takfiri groups was arrested, "he added on television. The term takfiri means in Iran and in several countries the jihadist groups or Sunni Islamist radicals.
Among the victims, according to the news agency, a woman and two children.
"The terrorists arrested are not Iranians," added the same source, without further details.
The Iranian presidency issued a statement in the evening accusing "the enemies of Iran" who seek "to divide the united ranks of the nation by violence and terror, and promising a stern response from the security forces" to sponsors and directors. of this blind crime ".
Shahcheragh Shrine is the most revered place of worship in southern Iran.
In early April, a 21-year-old foreign citizen "of Uzbek origin" stabbed two Shia clerics to death and wounded a third in the courtyard of the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran's second largest city.
Accused of "moharebeh" (being an "enemy of God" in Persian), the attacker was hanged on June 7 in the same city, according to the judicial authorities.
(GettyImages)
Iran, Shah Cheragh mosque in Shiraz