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Terror attack in Iran’s Shiraz was staged by Azerbaijani citizen — intelligence ministry

On October 26, the IRNA agency said that three unidentified gunmen opened fire at the Shah Cheragh Shrine in Shiraz

MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. The terrorist attack at the Shah Cheragh Shrine in the Iranian city of Shiraz was planned by an Azerbaijani citizen, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence said on Monday.

"The main organizer and coordinator of the terrorist cell within the country was an Azerbaijani citizen, who, upon arrival in Tehran, immediately contacted an Islamic State group (Islamic State is banned in Russia) in Afghanistan and notified them that he was in Iran," the Tasnim news agency quotes the Intelligence Ministry as saying in a statement. "The group that organized the terrorist attack at the mosque also included citizens of Afghanistan and Tajikistan."

According to the Intelligence Ministry, a total of 26 suspects have been detained on the suspicion of involvement in organizing the attack at the Shah Cheragh Shrine. All of them are citizens of Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

On October 30, the speaker of Iran’s Mejlis (parliament), Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused Israel of organizing a terrorist attack in Shiraz. On October 28, the interim imam of Friday prayers in Tehran said that the United States was guilty of organizing the attack on the mausoleum and vowed that Iran would take vengeance on Washington for the bloodshed.

On October 26, the IRNA agency said that three unidentified gunmen opened fire at the Shah Cheragh Shrine in Shiraz (Fars province). Later, there were reports that of one of the attackers had been injured and seized. He was taken to the hospital where he died a short while later. According to the latest reports, 15 were killed and 27 others injured in the attack.

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