UPDATE 1220 GMT: Share prices in the Tehran Stock Exchange have fallen by 67%, according to State outlet Press TV.

The outlet reassures, “This is nonetheless seen as a temporary shock to the market and share prices would return to normalcy in the next session of trading.”

On closer examination, the drop is only 0.67%, with the TSE down 535 points to 79,758.5 in the afternoon session.


UPDATE 1120 GMT: The death toll in the Tehran attacks is now 12, with 42 injured.

Iranian State TV says the attack in the Khomeini shrine was carried out by three women and a man.

The Iranian Students News Agency says all four attackers inside the Parliament building have been killed. The Deputy Interior Minister said the four were dressed as women to infiltrate the complex.


UPDATE 0920 GMT: The Islamic State, through its Amaq news agency has claimed responsibility for the Tehran attacks.

ISIS regularly claims deadly operations, whether or not it is actually involved.

The Islamic Students News Agency says two people were killed and 35 wounded at the Parliament building.

Security forces help a child out of the building:

IRAN PARLIAMENT 2


UPDATE 0820 GMT: The Iranian Parliament’s Public Relations Director General, Mahdi Kiaie, says security forces and the Revolutionary Guards have restored control in the building, with a public session of the Majlis now underway.

Iran’s State news agency IRNA says four attackers opened fire earlier, injuring 3 guards. It does not mention fatalities.


ORIGINAL ENTRY: In the first coordinated attack in Iran’s capital Tehran in years, attackers have struck both the Parliament building and the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.

Initial reports said there was gunfire, causing casualties, in both locations. There are unconfirmed claims of five people killed and hostages being held inside the Parliament building, and of a female suicide bomber detonating explosives in the Khomeini mausoleum.

The attacks came less than 48 hours after the Supreme Leader had spoken about last Saturday’s attacks in London, saying that Europe had brought the Islamic State’s violence upon itself because of its interventions in the Middle East.

See Iran Daily, June 7: Supreme Leader on London Attacks — “Europe Has Brought ISIS Terrorism on Itself”

The Islamic State has published Persian-language videos and texts since 2015, but has stepped up the output
in recent months. In late March, it posted video in Persian calling on Iran’s Sunni Muslim minority to rise against the regime. ISIS then published four issues of its online propaganda publication Rumiyah in Persian.

The scene around the Parliament building:

TOP PHOTO: A member of Iranian security forces in a window of the Iranian Parliament building in Tehran