Four Killed in Armed Attack on Shiite Shrine in Iran

The attack Sunday on the Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz (Fars)
The attack Sunday on the Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz (Fars)
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Four Killed in Armed Attack on Shiite Shrine in Iran

The attack Sunday on the Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz (Fars)
The attack Sunday on the Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz (Fars)

An attack on a Shiite Muslim shrine in Iran’s southern city of Shiraz on Sunday killed four people and injured at least eight others, Iranian media outlets said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on the Shah Cheragh shrine, which state news agency IRNA said had been carried out by terrorists.

Later, Iranian Khabar TV channel said ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.

One of the suspected assailants was arrested while the other went on the run, according to Tasnim news agency.

At least seven people were wounded, including two workers at the shrine and two pilgrims, and shops in the area had been closed. State TV said the shrine area had been cordoned off by security forces.

At the site of the attack, the head of the judiciary in Fars province, Kazem Mousavi, said in statements to Iranian television that the attacker was “subject to preliminary interrogation,” adding that “the situation is under control.”

Later, the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee in the Iranian Parliament announced it will hold a session Monday to discuss details of the attack.

Last October, ISIS said it had launched an attack on the shrine in which 15 people were killed.

The group has claimed previous attacks in Iran, including the deadly twin bombings in 2017 that targeted Iran's parliament and the tomb of former supreme leader, Khomeini.

Last July, the judiciary’s Mizan Online news website said Iran hanged two men in public over the October attack in Shiraz.

It said Mohammad Ramez Rashidi and Naeem Hashem Qatali were hanged after being convicted of “corruption on earth, armed rebellion, and acting against national security” as well as “conspiracy against the security of the country.”

The nationalities of the two men were not revealed. But, authorities earlier said people from other countries including neighboring Afghanistan were involved in the attack.

Last month, IRNA said the two men were hanged at dawn on July 8 on a street near the shrine in Shiraz, the capital of Fars province.

Rashidi had confessed to having collaborated with ISIS to carry out the shooting, Mizan stated.

Meanwhile, Mousavi said three other defendants were sentenced to prison for five, 15, and 25 years for being members of ISIS.

Iranian authorities said that the main assailant in the attack was identified as Hamed Badakhshan, a man in his 30s. They said he died of injuries sustained during his arrest.

In November last year, Tehran stated that 26 people from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan had been arrested in connection with the attack.



Russia Begins Mass Production of Radiation-Resistant Mobile Bomb Shelters

People wait at a bus stop with electronic screen showing an advertisement image depicting Russian soldier and the slogan "Be strong, faithful, courageous" in front of towers of business center Moscow-City in Moscow, Russia, 14 November 2024. (EPA)
People wait at a bus stop with electronic screen showing an advertisement image depicting Russian soldier and the slogan "Be strong, faithful, courageous" in front of towers of business center Moscow-City in Moscow, Russia, 14 November 2024. (EPA)
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Russia Begins Mass Production of Radiation-Resistant Mobile Bomb Shelters

People wait at a bus stop with electronic screen showing an advertisement image depicting Russian soldier and the slogan "Be strong, faithful, courageous" in front of towers of business center Moscow-City in Moscow, Russia, 14 November 2024. (EPA)
People wait at a bus stop with electronic screen showing an advertisement image depicting Russian soldier and the slogan "Be strong, faithful, courageous" in front of towers of business center Moscow-City in Moscow, Russia, 14 November 2024. (EPA)

Russia has begun mass production of mobile bomb shelters that can protect against a variety of man-made threats and natural disasters including radiation and shockwaves, the emergency ministry's research institute said.

The "KUB-M" shelter looks like a reinforced shipping container. It can give some protection against radiation, shrapnel, debris and fires and can be deployed in Russia's vast northern permafrost, according to the state institute.

The standard unit accommodates 54 people but additional modules can be added, the institute said.

The war in Ukraine is entering what some officials say could be its final - most dangerous - phase as Moscow's forces advance at their fastest pace since the early weeks of the conflict in 2022 and the West seeks to shore up Ukraine.

The institute did not link the move to any current crisis, though the announcement came just as the administration of US President Joe Biden agreed to allow Ukraine to fire American long-range missiles deep into Russia.

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia would respond to what it called a reckless decision by Biden's administration and cautioned that the move would draw the United States directly into the conflict.