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.



North Korea's Kim Vows Steadfast Support for Russia’s War in Ukraine

TOPSHOT - This photograph taken and released on November 29, 2024 by the Russian Defense Ministry press service shows Russia's Defense Minister Andrei Belousov (4th-L) and his delegation attending a bilateral talks with North Korean delegation in Pyongyang. (Photo by HANDOUT / Russian Defense Ministry / AFP)
TOPSHOT - This photograph taken and released on November 29, 2024 by the Russian Defense Ministry press service shows Russia's Defense Minister Andrei Belousov (4th-L) and his delegation attending a bilateral talks with North Korean delegation in Pyongyang. (Photo by HANDOUT / Russian Defense Ministry / AFP)
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North Korea's Kim Vows Steadfast Support for Russia’s War in Ukraine

TOPSHOT - This photograph taken and released on November 29, 2024 by the Russian Defense Ministry press service shows Russia's Defense Minister Andrei Belousov (4th-L) and his delegation attending a bilateral talks with North Korean delegation in Pyongyang. (Photo by HANDOUT / Russian Defense Ministry / AFP)
TOPSHOT - This photograph taken and released on November 29, 2024 by the Russian Defense Ministry press service shows Russia's Defense Minister Andrei Belousov (4th-L) and his delegation attending a bilateral talks with North Korean delegation in Pyongyang. (Photo by HANDOUT / Russian Defense Ministry / AFP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed his country will “invariably support” Russia’s war in Ukraine as he met Russia's defense chief, the North’s state media reported Saturday.
A Russia military delegation led by Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in North Korea on Friday, amid growing international concern about the two countries’ expanding cooperation after North Korea sent thousands of troops to Russia last month.
The official Korean Central News Agency said that Kim and Belousov reached “a satisfactory consensus” on boosting strategic partnership and defending each country’s sovereignty, security interests and international justice in the face of the rapidly-changing international security environments in a Friday meeting.
Kim said that North Korea “will invariably support the policy of the Russian Federation to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity from the imperialists’ moves for hegemony,” KCNA said.
North Korea has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling it a defensive response to what both Moscow and Pyongyang call NATO’s “reckless” eastward advance and US-led moves to stamp out Russia’s position as a powerful state.
Kim slammed a US decision earlier in November to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with US-supplied longer-range missiles as a direct intervention in the conflict. He called recent Russian strikes on Ukraine “a timely and effective measure" demonstrate Russia's resolve, KCNA said.
According to US, Ukrainian and South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia and some of them have already begun engaging in combat on the frontlines. US, South Korean and others say North Korea has also shipped artillery systems, missiles and other conventional weapons to replenish Russia’s exhausted weapons inventory.
Both North Korea and Russia haven’t formally confirmed the North Korean troops’ movements, and have steadfastly denied reports of weapons shipments.
South Korea, the US and their partners are concerned that Russia could give North Korea advanced weapons technology in return, including help to build more powerful nuclear missiles.
Last week, South Korean national security adviser Shin Wonsik told a local SBS TV program that Seoul assessed that Russia has provided air defense missile systems to North Korea. He said Russia also appeared to have given economic assistance to North Korea and various military technologies, including those needed for the North’s efforts to build a reliable space-based surveillance system.
Belousov also met North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol on Friday. During a dinner banquet later the same day, Belousov said the two countries' strategic partnership was crucial to defend their sovereignty from aggression and the arbitrary actions of imperialists, KCNA said.
In June, Kim and Putin signed a treaty requiring both countries to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked. It's considered the two countries’ biggest defense deal since the end of the Cold War.