An armed man opened fire on Sunday night at a shrine in southern Iran, killing one person and injuring eight others in an attack that occurred after another attack took place there months earlier, authorities reported.
Authorities have not revealed a motive for the attack at Shah Cheragh, a shrine in the city of Shiraz where Shiite pilgrims gather at its domed mosque and where the tomb of a prominent historical figure is located.
However, Iran has previously faced attacks by Sunni extremists from the Islamic State group, who consider Shiites to be heretics. Iran also faces ongoing unrest and economic turmoil amid tensions with the West.
The Iranian state news agency IRNA quoted Ismail Qezelsofla, the deputy security governor of Fars province, who provided the death toll.
The governor of Fars province, Mohammad Hadi Imanieh, told Iranian state television that a lone gunman carried out the attack and was subsequently arrested by security forces. He did not offer any motive for the attack in his brief comments.
Images after the attack showed security forces cordoning off an entrance to the deserted courtyard of Shah Cheragh at dusk. Later, ambulances transported the wounded as security forces and government officials arrived at the shrine.
Shah Cheragh is one of Iran’s top five Shiite shrines. Pilgrims visit it in Shiraz, which is about 420 miles (675 kilometers) south of Iran’s capital, Tehran.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Sunday night attack follows an October 2022 bombing at the same shrine that killed 13 people and injured dozens more. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which Iran said was carried out by a man from Tajikistan, who later died in a hospital from injuries sustained while he was in custody of security forces.
TYT Newsroom