DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran executed two men on Saturday for an attack on a Shiite shrine that killed at least 13 people in October and was claimed by the militant group Islamic State, Iranian state media reported on Saturday.
The pair were hanged at dawn in the southern city of Shiraz, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The men had said during their trial that they had been in contact with the Islamic State in neighboring Afghanistan and had helped organize the attack on Shah Cheragh’s shrine in Shiraz, according to Iranian media.
CCTV footage shown on state television showed an attacker entering the popular shrine after hiding an assault rifle in a bag and firing as worshipers tried to flee and hide in the hallways.
The shooter, identified as a citizen of Tajikistan, later died in a hospital from injuries sustained in the attack. Officials initially said 15 were killed in the attack, but later revised the figure to 13.
Islamic State, once a security threat in the Middle East, has claimed responsibility for earlier violence in Iran, including deadly twin attacks in 2017 that targeted parliament and the tomb of the Islamic Republic’s founder, the Ayatollah. Ruhollah Khomeini.
(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill)