Iran: Shootings at Parliament Building and Ayatollah Khomeini Shrine
Iran’s parliament and Ayatollah Khomeini’s mausoleum in the capital, Tehran, have been attacked by gunmen causing a number of casualties.
There are reports that a security guard has been killed after attackers opened fire outside the parliament building.
Several people were injured in the attack at Ayatollah Khomeini’s mausoleum.
One suicide bomber and two or three other gunmen were involved.
Reports are coming in of a second suicide bombing at the shrine.
Fars news agency posted new pictures showing shooting around the parliament building.
Image source Flickr
An image showing a man with a gun looking out of the window, initially described as an attacker by Iranian media, actually shows a policeman.
However, lawmaker Seyyed Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini told the Isna news agency that three gunmen were still in the building, in lawmakers’ offices.
A photo posted by Fars showed people inside the parliament building lowering a child out of a first-floor window to people waiting below.
State TV news channel Irinn said seven or eight people had been injured at the parliament by four attackers.
The gunmen were carrying Kalashnikovs and one Colt pistol, reports said.
One gunman had been arrested, Irna reported.
The governor of Tehran said one attacker at the mausoleum had detonated a suicide vest and another had been killed by security forces, state broadcaster Irib reports.
Ali Khalili from the mausoleum’s public relations office told the state-run Irna news agency that one of the armed men had blown himself up in front of a bank outside the mausoleum.
However, Fars reported that the suicide bomber was a woman. Images from the scene showed the remains of the bomber, apparently clad in black clothes.
There are conflicting reports as to whether the remaining attackers have been arrested.
Five people were wounded at the mausoleum, and one person was confirmed dead, the Ilna news agency said, though it was unclear whether this included the bomber.