Iran foils terror plot, defuses 30 bombs in Tehran, arrests 28 terrorists

Authorities in Iran released a statement claiming that they had neutralised 30 explosives that were meant to go off simultaneously in Tehran and also detained 28 terrorists that had connections with the terror group Islamic State and were involved in the terror plot, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday (September 24), citing the intelligence ministry.

"Some of the members are of Islamic State (IS) and the perpetrators have a history of being affiliated with Takfiri groups in Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Kurdistan region of Iraq," Iran's intelligence ministry added in a statement.

The militant group has claimed several attacks that have taken place in Iran in the past, including the deadly twin bombings, that targeted Iran's parliament and the tomb of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the year 2017.

Last year, in October, the Islamic State took responsibility for a mass shooting incident that took place at a Shiite Muslim shrine in Iran’s central city of Shiraz, leaving 13 people dead and 30 wounded.

According to the judiciary’s Mizan Online news website, the two men involved in the attack, identified as Mohammad Ramez Rashidi and Naeem Hashem Qatali, were hanged in public.

Mizan said that Rashidi had confessed to having collaborated with IS to carry out the shooting in October. While the nationalities of the two men were not revealed, officials had previously said the attack involved people from other countries including neighbouring Afghanistan.

The Mizan also reported they had been convicted of “corruption on earth, armed rebellion and acting against national security” as well as “conspiracy against the security of the country,” reported AFP.

The duo was hanged at dawn on July 8 on a street near the shrine in Shiraz, reported IRNA, at the time. Meanwhile, three other defendants in the case were sentenced to prison for five, 15 and 25 years for being members of the extremist group IS, said Fars Chief Justice Kazem Moussavi, as per AFP.

(With inputs from agencies)

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