At least 15 people were killed and 40 were injured in an armed attack on worshipers in a Shia pilgrimage site in Iran's city of Shiraz, state media reported on Wednesday, and President Ebrahim Raisi vowed to respond to the attack.

The attack targeted the Shahcheragh shrine in Shiraz at around 5:45 p.m. local time, state news agency IRNA reported. The interior minister labelled it a “terrorist attack.”

Raisi said the attack “will not go unanswered” and vowed a “regrettable response” to those behind it.


“This crime will definitely not go unanswered, and the security and law enforcement forces will teach a lesson to those who designed and carried out the attack,” Raisi said.

There have been conflicting reports about the number of the attackers. IRNA had earlier reported that the attack was carried out by three gunmen, but officials from the province where the attack took place later said there was only one attacker.

The police chief as well as the chief justice of Fars province said there was only one attacker, adding that he has been arrested and was being interrogated.

Citing an unnamed security source, the semi-official Tasnim news agency earlier said the attackers were “Takfiri” – a reference to Sunni extremists – who carried out the attack by taking advantage of the ongoing unrest in the country.

Anti-government protests sparked by the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini have rocked Iran since September 16.

Over 200 protesters have been killed and thousands have been arrested, according to rights groups.

Source : https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2022/10/26/Gunmen-open-fire-at-worshippers-in-terrorist-attack-in-Iran-s-Shiraz-State-media