Teheran attackers were Iranians who joined ISIS

This article is more than 12 months old

Jun 09, 2017 06:00 am

TEHERAN The five men who carried out twin attacks in Teheran were Iranians who joined the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) before returning last summer, the intelligence ministry said yesterday.

"The five known terrorists... after joining ISIS, left the country and participated in crimes carried out by this terrorist group in Mosul and Raqqa," the ministry said in a statement. The statement indicated that only five people carried out Wednesday's twin attacks, rather than six originally reported.

The ministry released images and the first names of the dead attackers, who killed 17 people and wounded dozens in gun and bomb assaults on Teheran's parliamentary complex and the shrine of revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

It said the five men were part of a network that entered Iran in July-August last year under the leadership of "high-ranking ISIS commander" Abu Aisha and that they "intended to carry out terrorist operations in religious cities."

Abu Aisha was killed and the network forced to flee the country, the statement said. - AFP