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| Smoke was seen after an explosion rocked the parliament’s building in central Tehran [Reuters] |
Lawmaker Elias Hazrati told state television that three attackers, one with a pistol and two with AK-47 assault rifles, raided office buildings at the parliament complex.
ISNA news agency quoted a member of the parliament as saying that all the parliament doors were shut and access to the complex was sealed by police.
“There is panic going through the streets of the capital right now because of the attacks. There is chaos inside the parliament,” Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons said.
“It is very likely that these attacks were coordinated. It’s hardly a coincidence that it happened within minutes of each other.”
ISIL claim
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the attacks via its online forum.
“Fighters from the Islamic State (ISIL) attacked the Khomeini mausoleum and the parliament building in Tehran,” the Amaq agency said, citing a “security source”.
The attack on the shrine of Khomeini is symbolically stunning. As Iran’s first Supreme Leader, Khomeini is a towering figure in the country and was its revolutionary leader in the 1979 ouster of the shah.
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