The five men who carried out twin terrorist attacks in Tehran were Iranians who joined the ISIL Takfiri group in Iraq and Syria before returning last summer, the intelligence ministry said Thursday.
“The five known terrorists… after joining Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group, left the country and participated in crimes carried out by this terrorist group in Mosul and Raqa,” the ministry said in a statement.
The statement indicates only five people carried out Wednesday’s twin attacks, rather than six originally reported by media.
The ministry released images and the first names of the dead attackers, who killed 17 people and wounded dozens in gun and bomb assaults on Tehran’s parliamentary complex and the shrine of founder of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Sayyed Ruhollah Khomeini on Wednesday.
It said the five men were part of a network that entered Iran in July-August 2016 under the leadership of “high-ranking ISIL commander” Abu Aisha and that “intended to carry out terrorist operations in religious cities.”
Abu Aisha was killed and the network forced to flee the country, the statement said.
Source: AFP
