2 killed in attacks on Iran's Parliament, Khomeini mausoleum

At least two persons were killed on Wednesday in attacks on the Iranian Parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini here on Tuesday, officials said.

Four armed men entered the Parliament complex in central Tehran and stared shooting. Heavy gunfire could be heard on an audio recording from inside the Parliament chamber and a security guard was killed in the attack, BBC reported.

In the other incident, three armed men raided the southern Tehran mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini, the religious Shia leader who led the Iranian revolution against the monarchy.

Two of the assailants shot at visitors, while the third "detonated himself in a suicide attack", the semi-official Fars news agency said.

The remaining two attackers were arrested, the Iranian Labour News Agency reported. Five people were wounded in the mausoleum attack and one person was confirmed dead, it said.

At least eight persons were injured in the Parliament attack, Xinhua news agency reported.

Four armed people entered the Majlis (Iranian Parliament) on Wednesday morning and started shooting, lawmaker Akbar Ranjbarzadeh told state IRIB TV.

The assailants were still inside the Majlis and had entered the offices of some lawmakers, Ranjbarzadeh was quoted as saying. The entrance and the exit doors of the Majlis were closed, the report said.

"There were three attackers armed with two Kalashnikov rifles and one Colt pistol," MP Elyas Hazrati was quoted as saying by Iran's IRIB news agency.

The attack at the mausoleum, several kilometres to the south of Tehran, happened at the same time as the strike at Parliament complex and appeared to be co-ordinated, reports said.

--IANS

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