Iran's parliament and Khomeini shrine attacked by gunmen

[Mingle]

Armed individuals have opened fire at the Iranian parliament and the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini in the capital, Tehran, causing a number of casualties.

Heavy gunfire could be heard on an audio recording from inside the parliament chamber, and there are reports that a security guard has died.

Several people were injured at the shrine, dedicated to the founder of the modern Islamic republic.

There was one suicide bomber and two or three other gunmen.

Ali Khalili from the mausoleum's public relations office told IRNA news agency that one of the armed men detonated himself in front of a bank outside the mausoleum.

However Fars News said that the suicide bomber was a woman.

The Iranian Labour News Agency reported that two attackers had been arrested.

Five people were wounded at the shrine, and one person confirmed dead, it said.

Latest reports suggest the attack at Iran's parliament is ongoing.

An image posted by Tasmin News showed what appeared to be a gunman holding an assault weapon shooting out from an upstairs window of the parliament building.

MP Seyyed Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini told the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) that three gunmen were still in the building, in MPs' offices.

Iranian rolling news channel IRINN said seven or eight people had been injured at the parliament by four attackers.

The gunmen were carrying Kalashnikovs and one Colt pistol, reports said.

One gunman has been arrested, IRNA said.

The attack at the mausoleum, several kilometres to the south, happened at the same time and appeared to be co-ordinated, reports said.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40184641

[Odin]

Mossad must be behind this.

[LoLeL]

Possible scenarios

1. Saudi Arabia
"We are not waiting until there becomes a battle in Saudi Arabia, so we will work so that it becomes a battle for them in Iran and not in Saudi Arabia." (https://www.rt.com/op-edge/388519-saudi-arabia-war-iran/)

2. Inside job

[Ryujin]

Condolences.

[N1019]

1. Saudi Arabia
"We are not waiting until there becomes a battle in Saudi Arabia, so we will work so that it becomes a battle for them in Iran and not in Saudi Arabia."

It's pretty hard to look past that one, especially since it was just a few weeks ago.

If it really was ISIS or ISIS associates, then the US would have been in on it along with others.

If this is not a one-off, and these attacks keep happening, it is the beginning of the war with Iran, which has been a long time coming, but is now happening sooner than I thought it would. However, there is no reason why it should not begin now.

Given Iran's size and inherent strength, it would make sense to weaken the country as much as possible before moving towards military action. Waves of attacks from terrorist mercenaries are a cheap means of destabilization. The ability of a country plagued with terrorist activity to project power externally could be severely compromised; the state would also be softened up for what is to come.

If there is a real push to continue ISIS or similar activity in Iran, the IRI regime will struggle to snuff it out. Iran has long borders on the east and west, ripe for penetration and smuggling. Who knows what infiltration has already taken place?

According to at least one report, the accents of the terrorists speaking Arabic were identified as north African. However, other reports say they were Iranians recruited to ISIS internally. Either way, ISIS assets have infiltrated the country.


2. Inside job

What motive do you think the IRI regime might have for staging a false flag attack like this? (genuine question)

[Ouistreham]

From the beginning it was crystal clear that ISIS is a Jewish puppet.
They only target the 'Axis of Evil' as defined by the Zionist thing and the American Deep State: Syria, the Hezbollah, Iran, Russia...

[al-Bosni]

Islamic State showing United States how it's done. Like when a cat brings home a bloody gift at your feet, they are teaching you how to hunt.

[Porn Master]

iranian national intelligence agency is sleeping

[Zephyrus]

Iranians should wear this situation as a badge of honor.
Keep up the good work.

[N1019]

iranian national intelligence agency is sleeping

They'd better wake up quick because I suspect that after this taste of success they'll be back for more, and it won't be easy to stop.

[LoLeL]

What motive do you think the IRI regime might have for staging a false flag attack like this? (genuine question)

Something like 9/11. This terrorist attack (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Tehran_attacks) sounds very artificial. Remember Talibans were their so-called enemies too but now they support Talibans to destabilize Afghanistan (http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/international/313100-how-iran-aides-the-afghan-taliban-under-americas-nose).

Even if accept this terror attack is 100% ISIS-based, then those involved terrorists were more professional than CIA agents.

[N1019]

Something like 9/11. This terrorist attack (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Tehran_attacks) sounds very artificial. Remember Talibans were their so-called enemies too but now they support Talibans to destabilize Afghanistan (http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/international/313100-how-iran-aides-the-afghan-taliban-under-americas-nose).



But what would Iran's motive be in staging its own 9/11? What would they be hoping to achieve? They don't need their own version of America's fake Patriot Act because Iran is already a police state with one of the worst human rights records in the world. The government doesn't need the consent of the people to do what it wants to anywhere near the extent Western democracies do. It just does whatever it wants, and if the people protest they get shot on the streets. Iran is already supporting various activities across the region. It already regularly cracks down on its own people, including minority groups like Khuzestan Arabs, Kurds etc. It's already in proxy wars with the US and allies. Barring full-scale military deployments there is limited scope for Iran to ratchet things up any further.

I accept that in theory a false flag is possible. I'm just not seeing motive here. We already have a government that acts with relative impunity towards its own people. It's also very insecure and proud, and this event is a major embarrassment.


Even if accept this terror attack is 100% ISIS-based, then those involved terrorists were more professional than CIA agents.

In my opinion, the attacks were not very successful in terms of the casualty rate. It was only a few deaths per fighter. But I suppose ISIS terrorists are cheap and expendable, so it doesn't matter. In terms of political impact it was still a success, no doubt. A nation preoccupied with internal security issues may find its ability to project power externally has been impaired.