Iran begins trying suspects in deadly Daesh attack
Iran is trying key suspects in a Daesh attack on parliament and another landmark in Tehran last year in which 17 people were killed and dozens of others injured.
Twenty-six members of the terrorist group are facing justice in the case, eight of whom attended a court hearing at Branch 15 of Tehran’s Islamic Revolution Court on Saturday.
They are being indicted over a number of charges including membership of a terrorist organization, weapons smuggling and unauthorized entry to Iran, the Iranian Judiciary’s news website Mizanonline reported.
Judge Abolqassem Salavati presided over the hearing, which was also attended by lawyers of the suspects, the prosecutor’s representative, and the parliament’s legal representatives.
Upon the judge’s instruction, the prosecutor’s representative read out the indictment.
On June 7 last year, gunmen mounted almost simultaneous assaults on parliament and the mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini, killing 17 people and injuring more than 50 others.
The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assaults.
Some of the attackers were killed or arrested and dozens more were captured in the following months — many in operations along the borders with Iraq and Turkey.
A closed court session has been scheduled for Sunday, when the indictment brought against one of the terrorists will be addressed.
The attackers had fought for the Daesh terrorist group both in Iraq and Syria. They had stayed for about a month in Iran’s western border towns to recruit new members and prepare arms and explosives before traveling to Tehran.
The Islamic Republic was the first country, which rushed to Iraq’s assistance in 2014, when it came under the Daesh terror outfit’s attacks. Iran has been providing successful military advisory support to both Iraq and Syria at the request of their governments.
The Takfiri group was defeated in the Arab countries late last year. It, however, has named Iran as the potential target of its acts of terrorism, and keeps staging sporadic attacks worldwide.
