Gunman Who Attacked Shrine in Iran Dies from Injuries

A general view of the Shah Cheragh Shrine after an attack in Shiraz, Iran October 28, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A general view of the Shah Cheragh Shrine after an attack in Shiraz, Iran October 28, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Gunman Who Attacked Shrine in Iran Dies from Injuries

A general view of the Shah Cheragh Shrine after an attack in Shiraz, Iran October 28, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A general view of the Shah Cheragh Shrine after an attack in Shiraz, Iran October 28, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

The gunman who killed 15 people at a major Shiite holy site in southern Iran earlier this week died on Saturday, Iranian media reported. The attack was claimed by the militant ISIS group but Iran's government has sought to blame it on the protests roiling the country.

Iranian authorities have not disclosed details about the assailant, who died in a hospital in the southern city of Shiraz on Saturday from injuries sustained during his arrest, according to Iran's semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies.

The funeral for the victims would be held later on Saturday, officials said. It is unusual that authorities have not elaborated on the gunman's nationality or provided any details about him following Wednesday's deadly attack at Shah Cheragh in Shiraz, the second-holiest Shiite shrine in Iran.

The attack came as unrest — sparked by the Sept. 16 death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country's morality police — have rocked the country.

The protests first focused on the state-mandated hijab, or headscarf, for women but quickly grew into calls for the downfall of Iran's theocracy itself. At least 270 people have been killed and 14,000 have been arrested in the protests that have swept over 125 Iranian cities, according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran.

Iranian officials have blamed protesters for paving the way for the assault on the shrine in Shiraz, but there is no evidence linking extremist groups to the widespread, largely peaceful demonstrations engulfing the country. Security forces have violently cracked down on demonstrations with live ammunition, anti-riot pellets and tear gas.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on the shrine — its first such claim in Iran in four years. Iran’s religious sites have previously been targeted by ISIS and other extremists.

The Iranian government has repeatedly alleged that foreign powers have orchestrated the protests, without providing evidence. The protests have become one of the most serious threats to Iran's ruling clerics since the 1979 revolution.



Manchester Bombing Survivors Awarded Damages for Harassment by Conspiracy Theorist

Martin Hibbert, who was paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, speaks to media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the trial of his lawsuit against Richard D. Hall for alleged harassment, in London, Britain July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin/File Photo
Martin Hibbert, who was paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, speaks to media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the trial of his lawsuit against Richard D. Hall for alleged harassment, in London, Britain July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin/File Photo
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Manchester Bombing Survivors Awarded Damages for Harassment by Conspiracy Theorist

Martin Hibbert, who was paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, speaks to media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the trial of his lawsuit against Richard D. Hall for alleged harassment, in London, Britain July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin/File Photo
Martin Hibbert, who was paralysed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, speaks to media outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the trial of his lawsuit against Richard D. Hall for alleged harassment, in London, Britain July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin/File Photo

Two survivors of a bombing that killed 22 people at the close of an Ariana Grande concert seven years ago were on Friday awarded 45,000 pounds ($58,184) in damages after successfully suing a conspiracy theorist who claimed the attack was staged.

Martin Hibbert was paralysed from the waist down and his daughter Eve, then 14, suffered a catastrophic brain injury in the bombing at Manchester Arena in northern England in 2017, Reuters reported.

They sued Richard Hall – a self-styled journalist who claimed without evidence that the attack was orchestrated by British government agencies – for harassment.

Their case bears some similarities to defamation lawsuits brought against US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones by relatives of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.

Judge Karen Steyn ruled last month that Hall's conduct in publishing a book and videos about the Manchester Arena bombing and filming Eve Hibbert and her mother outside their house in 2019 amounted to harassment.

The judge awarded Martin and Eve Hibbert a total of 45,000 pounds following a further hearing on Friday, British media reported.